Pensions

Pensions in Ireland is paid to people from the age of 66 who have enough social insurance contributions. People who qualify for a state pension are also allowed to have other incomes and still receive the State pension. The State pension is taxable, but if the pension is the only source of income it is not likely to be taxed.

In order to qualify for the State pension an individual must have started paying social insurance before the age of 56 and have paid at least 520 full rate social insurance contributions. An individual must also have at least 48 paid or credited full rate contributions from the year they started insurable employment until reaching 66 years of age.

Recent research has shown that only 32% of people would like to continuing to work after the age of 66. This is concerning due to the increasing financial pressure leading to delay in retirement. Another recent statistic gathered from 1,000 employers revealed that only 61% of employees believe that they will have no choice but to work past the age of …

Read More

State pensions – how they work and what’s available

There are two State Pension Systems, the Social Insurance System and the Social Assistance System, so you should normally qualify under one of these systems. Both systems provide a pension in retirement, or a pension to next of kin in event of premature death or a pension in the event of long term disability.

To qualify for the Social Insurance System pension  you must satisfy the PRSI conditions and have made at least 260 PRSI contributions during your working life.

To qualify for a  Social Assistance pension you will have to satisfy a “means test”.

The Social Insurance Pensions provided are;

The State Pension (Transition): you must be  aged 65 or over, retired from full time work, satisfy the PRSI conditions. The personal rate is €230.30 per week, a dependent adult (over 66) rate is €206.30. so the maximum claimable for a retired couple is €436.60. At 66 the claimant is moved onto the State Pension (Contributory), this pension will be abolished in 2014, claimants will have to wait until at least 66 to claim the State Pension (Contributory). This …

Read More