State pensions are a big deal in Ireland. There are three different contributory state pensions that you can get:
There are three different contributory state pensions:
There are three different contributory state pensions:
- The State Pension (contributory) – you pay into this by earning a certain amount of National Insurance contributions. If you’ve paid enough National Insurance contributions, then you’ll get this pension when you retire on pension age. You can also get the State Second Pension if you’re already receiving benefits from another source, such as an occupational pension scheme or private health insurance.
- The State Pension (contributory) with a Qualified Adult Allowance – this is similar to the basic state pension but has been adjusted so that younger people can claim it earlier than they would otherwise be entitled to under existing rules in order to keep pace with their peers who have retired earlier than they would have done before today’s reforms came into effect at 60 years old instead of 65 years old after January 1st 2020 due to delaying retirement age increases across Europe which were introduced following recommendations made by economists including David Byrne (former chief economist at KPMG), Brendan Barber (former general secretary of UNISON trade union), Peter Dowd MP and many others who argued passionately against reducing retirement ages across Europe because doing so could affect social security systems which depend heavily on taxes paid by workers without any additional funding being available from those same taxpayers.”
State pension (contributory)
Irish State Pension is the amount you can expect to receive if you have paid PRSI throughout your working life. It’s based on how many years of service you have and whether or not you qualify for a qualifying adult allowance.
The amount depends on what type of pensioner (or non-pensioner) status you fall into:
- Contributory – You pay either PRSI contributions or Class 1 National Insurance Contributions (NICs). If this is the case, then when your state pension age reaches 65 years old, it will be topped up by £95 per week until age 67 when it stops increasing automatically – unless there are other reasons why your rate may change; for example if there’s been an increase in earnings since reaching State Pension Age (SPA).
State pension (contributory) with a Qualified Adult Allowance
If you are 66 or over, and getting a State Pension (Contributory), you can get a qualified adult allowance if you have a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant who is 66 or over. The qualified adult allowance is no more than €5 per week.
State pension (transition)
The State Pension (Transition) is a transitional benefit available to individuals who have been born on or before 6 April 1951, but who would not be entitled to any social welfare payment if they were aged 65 years and over. It provides a weekly payment that replaces the old age pension for those who have reached their state pension age (SPA).
The SPA can vary from year-to-year, depending upon when you were born. If you are aged between 40–50 and turn 60 in 2019, then your SPA will be €222 per week as at 12 December 2018. For example:
- Say you were born 31 October 1949; this means that by turning 60 on 30 November 2021 – two weeks before being made redundant – your state pension would be €222 x 3 = €504 per week!
These pensions depend on the amount of PRSI you have paid throughout your life, and can be affected by things like marriage and caring.
The state pension is based on the number of PRSI contributions you have paid throughout your working life. You need to have paid at least 100 PRSI contributions to qualify for the state pension.
If you’ve been out of work for a long time, or if you were sick and unable to work and are now receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Reduced Mobility Component (RMC), then this will affect how much money you can get from the Irish state when it comes time for retirement.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has helped you understand the three different pensions available to you, and what they mean for your future. We know it can be a little overwhelming at first, but don’t worry – there are plenty of resources out there that will help you get through this process! Remember: no matter which pension you choose, we wish all our readers well on their journey toward financial independence!