State pension if retiring early

Is there somewhere to check contributions? I was unemployed in my mid 20s and went back to college so just trying to gauge an earliest retirement age allowing for full pension. Thanks

You can check how many contributions you have thru mywelfare.ie. Request Contribution History section. You need to know your mygov login and password.

I'm not the OP, but just checked mine using the mentioned link. I've got a number of figure for the 'Total Pension Contributions", but then I've got a number of "J" class contributions mentioned in the Paid Contributions Section (some of which I don't know why they're J class as they seemingly don't count towards a pension), then the breakdown of Credited Contributions seem all over the place from year too year despite stable employment, then I've got an assortment of Reckonable Contributions, and then I've got mention of a number of Reckonable Credited Contributions too....

Honestly I've no clue about any of this, never have, and any time I read and try to learn about it, none of it ever makes any sense and I end up leaving it. Is there a recommended place I can talk to, on a personal level relating to my specific case, who can advise me on paying voluntary contributions etc to restore me back on track?

I think you can keep paying them from your own pocket if you're short

Is that a softcopy (PDF) statement and how old is it? The statement I'm looking at is from last month (April 24) and was sent as a PDF file. The column you mention is the second last on my statement.

RECKONABLE is the magic word.

Add the paid reckonable contributions and the reckonable credits together and you'll get the total that counts. If it's equal to 2,080 then you've reached 100%.

(That's the simple version; it can get a bit tricky with things like pre-employment credits, home carers credits, and homemakers disregards possibly coming in to the picture!)

I want to get a contribution history without a my gov login. If s not clear where you request this from?

Those are the minimum contributions needed to qualify for any pension at all.

To get the maximum pension, you need many more than 520.

Anyone know what the situation is contributions wise, to get the state pension if you are in receipt of public sector pension ? I heard there were plans to change the requirements

Ther's nothing to stop you getting both, you just need to have the requisite number of reckonable (for the state pension) contributions and/or credits. Public servants who joined before a certain date paid a different class of PRSI so didn't qualify.

What's confusing me is the column "Paid Contributions", in which for
example in 2017 it lists 62A class contributions, and 8J class
contributions. Further down it mentions that J class contributions dont
count towards the Pension....and I'm not sure why they're there...

They're there because the chart shows you all of your contributions and credits, including those which do not count for the state pension.

How do you work out what you would get if you had say only 2000 or 1500 contirbutions?

Ah, now that you mention it, I did have a secondary employment around that time. Cheers

Voluntary contributions are intended to cover people who are employed or self-employed but who are not subject to compulsory PRSI and want to continue to clock up contributions to help them qualify for the state pension.

If you are not working, below age 66 and have not yet clocked up 2,080 contributions or credits then you should go to your Intreo (social welfare) office and ask to sign on for credits.

Ask your friend why he isn't simply signing for credits. It costs nothing, you get a letter once a year telling you when to attend your Intreo office, you show up, sign your initials in a box and you get 52 credits which covers 12 months.

Not everybody can sign on for credits .

There is an option to pay voluntary contributions if that is you , op , if retiring early .

If you are signing on for social welfare you are automatically credited for that time .

"If a self-employed person has only ever paid Class S PRSI contributions then he or she is not entitled to credits. "

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/99f84f-operational-guidelines-prsi-credited-social-insurance-contributions/#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20qualify%20for,for%20various%20social%20insurance%20benefits.

First, take note of what Goldengirl said in post #41 above and see the link in her post - not everyone can sign on for credits.

But if your friend meets the conditions, he can ask to sign on for credits and if he is eligible, he wouldn't need to pay the voluntary contributions. The maximum amount of that type of credit he could use for the pension is 10 years and, given that he retired at 55, maybe he plans to sign on for credits when he gets to within 10 years of pension age or it's possible that he previously signed for credits during a period of unemployment so he's already used up some of that 10 years allowance.

A couple of things:

If you are short by a small number of contributions, Pre Entry Credits (PECS) might assist. These are awarded when a person takes up insurable employment for the first time and pays a full rate contribution. PECS are awarded from the beginning of the relevant contribution year to the date of commencement of insurable employment. So for somebody who first started working in September and paid 22 contributions, they should get 30 additional PECS for that year to bring them to 52 reckonable contributions for that year. Note that PECS may not be added to your contribution statement until your pension application is being reviewed.

The maximum number of reckonable contributions for any year, irrespective of how many were paid and or credited is 52. There is one exception to this because of the change of the contribution year to the April to March year, there is a maximum of 66 contributions allowed for year 1978/79. If relevant, this should be shown on your contribution statement.

It strikes me that the next threshold may not ever happen! Or if it does, then it might be just 1 paid, reckonable contribution!

The logic behind the TCA is that every reckonable contribution (paid or credited) will be worth 1/2080th of the full pension. So if you've accumulated a total of (say) 208 reckonable contributions over your working life, then you should be eligible for a pension of 10% of the maximum SCP.

the change in 2012 was legislated for in 1997 so you’ll get plenty of notice if it happens.

Anyone who thinks they should get a pension with less than 10 years prsi paid is taking the piss anyway IMO

The problem with this is that having 520 paid contributions opens up credits which can significantly help

If you have no barrier but allow credits, then you’re giving a decent pensio to people who didn’t pay PRSI and who are too wealthy for the means tested pensions

And that’s unfair too