Pre 95 public sector workers and Prsi until age 70.

[S class]

This category of workers may not be able to qualify for the contributory pension at age 66.

If they don't qualify they will remain liable to Prsi on rental and investment income up to age 70.

They will pay class K Prsi on their unearned income.

This is charged at 4% and gives no reckonable benefits.

If workers in this category have ARF drawdowns which on their own or in addition the their unearned income amount to at least 5000 euro per year they would receive 52 class S reckonable Prsi contibutions per year to age 70.

This gives these workers the potential to gain an extra 4 years of full rate reckonable contributions and these extra contributions might allow them to qualify for a partial or pro rata contributory pension at age 70 or before age 70.

 

[ROS]

Thanks for that info.

In my case I have 180 A stamps and have 40 years service in the public sector workers Defined Benefit pension scheme. I will be leaving my employment under a voluntary exit scheme at the end of October.and I will be 60 the following month.

I intend to find a job and earn a least 1 A stamp as soon as possible after I leave my current job. I will definitely earn an A stamp in 2024. I understand that this will convert my D stamps for 2024 and 2023 into Credited contributions. Is this correct?

I also understand that I need to have a minimum of 260 earned A stamps to be eligible for a pro rate pension. Is this correct?

Once I get to 260, my Credited contributions will be added to the 260. Is this correct?

Once I get to the 260, what are my options for earning/gaining more A stamps. Are the following valid options?


1. Work as long as possible. This may be an option if I take a part time job.

2. Sign on for A stamps. What does this mean in reality?

3. Draw an income of at least 5000 euro per year from an ARF. This will give me 52 S stamps which count as A stamps

Thanks

 

[S class]

I intend to find a job and earn a least 1 A stamp as soon as possible after I leave my current job. I will definitely earn an A stamp in 2024. I understand that this will convert my D stamps for 2024 and 2023 into Credited contributions. Is this correct?

Yes

I also understand that I need to have a minimum of 260 earned A stamps to be eligible for a pro rate pension. Is this correct?

Yes

Once I get to 260, my Credited contributions will be added to the 260. Is this correct?

Yes

Once I get to the 260, what are my options for earning/gaining more A stamps. Are the following valid options?


1. Work as long as possible. This may be an option if I take a part time job.

2. Sign on for A stamps. What does this mean in reality?

3. Draw an income of at least 5000 euro per year from an ARF. This will give me 52 S stamps which count as A stamps

1. Yes

2. It means signing that you are a Jobseeker once per year. You will only receive
credits up to age 66.

3. This will give you class S stamps. These are full rate reckonable paid stamps similar to class A.

You can also pay voluntary Prsi, based on your class A contributions, up to age 66. The voluntary contributions are reckonable paid contributions and count towards the 260 or 520 full rate paid contributions target.

You could aim to reach 520 paid contributions by deferring your pension beyond age 66. This might be beneficial to you, but you would need to calculate if the advantage is worthwhile.

If you decide not to continue working in class A employment, you should continue to sign on for class A credits until age 66. Class A credits are allowed while receiving class S contributions and while making voluntary contributions.

The reason I suggest this is to allow you to have a chance to qualify for 65s benefit.
You would just need to work in class A employment for 13 weeks in any calender year from age 61 to 65 to complete the qualification criteria.

Continuing to sign on for class A credits will also allow you to qualify for treatment benefits.

 

[S class]

You can also pay voluntary Prsi, based on your class A contributions, up to age 66. The voluntary contributions are reckonable paid contributions and count towards the 520 full rate paid contributions target.

Voluntary Prsi can now be paid up to age 70.

The 260 full rate paid target can be reached using paid class A or class S contributions.

When this target is reached the 520 full rate paid target can then be reached using paid class A, class S or voluntary contributions.

• a person reaching drawdown date on or after 6 April 2012 must have paid 520 full-rate employment contributions, or, if at least 260 full-rate employment contributions are paid, the balance of the 520 can be made up with high rate voluntary contributions

 

[poorrelative]

Voluntary Prsi can now be paid up to age 70.

The 260 full rate paid target can be reached using paid class A or class S contributions.

When this target is reached the 520 full rate paid target can then be reached using paid class A, class S or voluntary contributions.

• a person reaching drawdown date on or after 6 April 2012 must have paid 520 full-rate employment contributions, or, if at least 260 full-rate employment contributions are paid, the balance of the 520 can be made up with high rate voluntary contributions

Does this mean that someone with less than 40 years of PRSI credits at age 66 could draw their state pension and pay voluntary PRSI contributions until 70 so that by the time they are 70 they have an extra 4 years of PRSI?

 

[S class]

Does this mean that someone with less than 40 years of PRSI credits at age 66 could draw their state pension and pay voluntary PRSI contributions until 70 so that by the time they are 70 they have an extra 4 years of PRSI?

No. When you start to drawdown the State Contributory Pension you are locked out of paying Prsi contributions.

You would have to deferr your pension to get the extra Prsi contributions.


From Operational Guidelines for Voluntary Prsi.

"A person under the age of 66,, or in the case of a person born on or after 1 January 1958 who is aged between 66 and 70 years and has not been awarded the State Pension (Contributory), who ceases to be covered by compulsory PRSI may opt to become a Voluntary Contributor, provided certain conditions are satisfied."

 

[Mr Black]

I have just retired from the HSE. Not sure what that class of PRSI will be, I was Class D.
I have rental income which is Class K.
When I start drawing from my PRSA AVC will that be Class S?

 

[S class]

Your HSE pension will be class M. This is not Reckonable for the Contributory Pension.

If you use your AVCs to buy an Annuity, this will also be class M.

If you choose this option your rental income will remain at class K. You will have no reckonable Prsi contributions.

If you use your AVCs to set up an ARF and the yearly drawdowns from the ARF are 5k or over you will get 52 class S per year.

If your ARF drawdowns are less than 5k, but your rental income + your ARF drawdowns combined are 5k or over you will get 52 class S.

You should aim to get at least 1 class A contribution from PAYE employment. This will allow you to qualify for change of status credits.

If you are under age 63 you should sign on for Jobseekers credits after gaining a class A contribution.

This will keep the possibility of qualification for Benefit Payment 65 open to you.

 

[Threadser]

Yes


Yes


Yes


1. Yes

2. It means signing that you are a Jobseeker once per year. You will only receive
credits up to age 66.

3. This will give you class S stamps. These are full rate reckonable paid stamps similar to class A.

You can also pay voluntary Prsi, based on your class A contributions, up to age 66. The voluntary contributions are reckonable paid contributions and count towards the 260 or 520 full rate paid contributions target.

You could aim to reach 520 paid contributions by deferring your pension beyond age 66. This might be beneficial to you, but you would need to calculate if the advantage is worthwhile.

If you decide not to continue working in class A employment, you should continue to sign on for class A credits until age 66. Class A credits are allowed while receiving class S contributions and while making voluntary contributions.

The reason I suggest this is to allow you to have a chance to qualify for 65s benefit.
You would just need to work in class A employment for 13 weeks in any calender year from age 61 to 65 to complete the qualification criteria.

Continuing to sign on for class A credits will also allow you to qualify for treatment benefits.

Thanks for all this info. I am a class D pre 95 PS worker planning to retire in the next year or two. I am also investigating option into how I can qualify for a partial state pension.

 

[niceoneted]

S Class many thanks for all your invaluable contributions in relation to this area. I’m retiring in two months. Am on class B. Will be converting AVC to an ARF and plan to draw down the €5k per year to gain the 52 S class stamps. I also plan to take a job at some stage later this year at A class which I understand will convert my 52 B stamps from 2024 to A class. I have about 100 A class from prion to my PS job. I will re evaluate nearer 66 whether I’ll need to hold off a year or two with draw down.

 

[S class]

I also plan to take a job at some stage later this year at A class which I understand will convert my 52 B stamps from 2024 to A class.

Just to clarify this.

Your 52B stamps will be given change of status.
They are not actually changed to class A.

The change of status credits are Reckonable for the Contributory Pension.

They do not count towards the 260 full rate paid contributions needed to qualify for a pro rata pension.

They do not count for the 520 full rate paid contributions needed to get a partial pension calculated using the averaging or total contributions methods.

You still need to gain another 160 full rate paid contributions for pro rata or 420 for a partial pension.

You can use class S, or class A paid contributions to reach the 260 level.

When you reach 260 you can then use class S, class A paid, or voluntary contributions to reach 520.

When you reach the 260 or 520 level your change of status credits are then added to your Reckonable Prsi total. You should also have some pre entry credits added.

 

[niceoneted]

That’s S class for the clarification on this. Very well explained.

 

[AMRetiring]

Hi all,

Reading through this has me thinking.

I am now 62, will be 63 next Jan
Salary 60K
No AVC?
283 A1 paid stamps which will give approx €35 pension


Spouse not working and has combined 543 paid and 863 Credits so she will get a partial Contributary pension.

I have 43yrs service on D1 contributions. I will get a full pension 50% salary plus 1.5 time lump sum.
Curently paying 5.3% into pension scheme that will not improve my pension.

If I retire next yr 2026
Get 1 X A1 to change status of 2025 and 2026 contributions approx 80

This will give me
283 A1 Current
1 A1 = get work
80 Change status credits
127 Jobseekers credits (turn 65 in Jan 29)
_________

491 Combined

As i am short of the 520 mark,

Does the 520 need to be paid contributions ?

 

[S class]

Your pension will be calculated using the pro rata method.
This will be the only possible calculation if you have less than 520 full rate paid contributions.

The extra 207 credits will be counted alongside your current 283 class A in the pro rata calculation.

In order to get a better COAP you would need to get 520 full rate paid contributions, so an extra 282.

This could be achieved with 6 years of extra full rate paid contributions.

These can be either class A from employment, after you cease your class D employment, or they could be class S from ARF drawdowns of 5k + per year.

It would be worthwhile to start making AVCs for last year, this year and into 2026.

If you manage to set up an ARF of 30k +, you could achieve 6 years of 5k drawdowns and get to the 520 full rate paid level.

If your ARF is smaller you can make voluntary contributions based on class S when your ARF is exhausted. These cost 650 euro per year.

Alternatively you could make voluntary contributions based on your last class A contribution. This could work out expensive as it is a percentage of your previous years income.

You could then defer your COAP beyond age 66.

You are in a similar situation to this poster.
Read through this thread. You will see that it would be very beneficial if you manage to reach the 520 full rate paid contributions level.

Post in thread 'Withdrawal from ARF before reaching 61.'

Withdrawal from ARF before reaching 61.

If he works for 13 weeks during the Calendar Year of his 62nd Birthday, should he sign on for Credits also ? The important thing is to have a minimum of 39 contributions during the calendar year of his 63rd birthday. These can be either full rate paid class A, or Jobseekers credits.. So he...

www.askaboutmoney.com

Also read this thread for information on qualifying for Benefit payment 65 and information on Jobseekers credits and class S Prsi from ARFs

Key Post - PRSI and planning retirement

This Key Post is in the form of a FAQ where I don't know many of the answers. I will update the post as I get answers. 1. PRSI payable on reaching state pension age Answer: 0 (Class M) 1a. Does this relate to the start of the tax year in which you become 66? Or to after your birthday? Answer...

www.askaboutmoney.com

 

[AMRetiring]

Thanks

S class​

Plenty of reading there. I have some things to consider.
I know I need a min of 5K draw down to get 52 class S contributions, and that it is also possible to work for a Class A stamp at the same time.

Question is can these be a combination of both, eg, If i only have 20 Class A stamps do I still need a full drawn down of 5K from my ARF to ensure 52 full counting stamps for the year.

 

[AMRetiring]

Hi all,

Can i throw another query regarding my wife ?

As above she is currently in limbo of sorts.
She has 543 paid A Contributions and 863 Credits. From reading she will only be allowed to use 520 credits in her pension calculations.

She will be able to use some Home makers credits to exclude a few years also .
Currently have a query with DSP regarding these.

Her last paid stamp was a J ones in 2011 / 12, her last A stamp was in 2008.

My query is tax related really. Currently due to health issues she is unable to work.

She does mind our grandchildren occasionally for no payment, but my daughter is always wanting to pay her. In reality if she did it would only amount to approx 1000-1500 a year.

Would taking that money and self declaring it be of benefit to her going forward.
As we are jointly assessed I expect I can do this through my account.

Could this be used to gain extra PRSI contributions.
She will be 63 this year.

Any guidance appreciated.

 

[S class]

Question is can these be a combination of both, eg, If i only have 20 Class A stamps do I still need a full drawn down of 5K from my ARF to ensure 52 full counting stamps for the year.

Yes you can get both class A and class S.
However only a total of 52 of these will be counted as Reckonable for your COAP.

You need a minimum of 5k per year to gain any class S contributions. You then get the full 52 class S for the year.
So it's either 52 or zero class S.

This doesn't change if you have some class A in the same year.

The 5k does not necessarily need to come from your ARF.
If you have other unearned income this can be combined with an ARF.

If you for example, had 1k in bank deposit interest you would only need an ARF drawdown of 4k in that year.

 

[S class]

She would need self employment income of a minimum of 5k per year to gain 52 class S contributions.

Again if she had other unearned income, this could be combined with her child minding income to reach the 5k level.

Another way would be if your daughter registered as an employer, she could employ your wife to be a child minder.

If she paid your wife a minimum of 38 euro per week your wife would gain a class A Prsi contribution for each week.

52 weeks of employment = 52 Class A contributions.

She can use up to 1040 credits for the COAP.
A maximum of 520 of these can be Jobseekers credits.

So for example she could have 640 home carers credits and 400 Jobseekers credits.

Read this post for information on setting up an employment...

Post in thread 'PRSI and planning retirement'

Key Post - PRSI and planning retirement

 

[AMRetiring]

Is there scope for her to make voluntary contributions.

Its over 10 years since she has any contributions and it seems the limit is 5 years.

Eg if she could get any contributions for this year, A or S, and then apply to make Voluntary contributions for the next two years.

 

[S class]

Eg if she could get any contributions for this year, A or S, and then apply to make Voluntary contributions for the next two years.

She could do that.