Pensions across EU countries

jimmurt

Hi,

I live in Spain and have contributed into their social security on and off since 2016. So 6 months full time employment 2016, gap, 10 months self employed 2017, gap, 10 months self employed 2018. I am about to have another small break from work.
The last time I took myself off the register so I wouldnt pay the mandatory €280/month when I wasnt working. A Spanish friend of mine is now telling me I´d be better off staying on it even when not working, so you keep adding to your period of contribution as the min to recieve a pension is 15 years. That´s the same minimum period as Ireland.

Some questions for any experts here:

1. If you miss the contributions or are not working for any time, do you reset for the 15 years? It seems harsh if so

2. If not, can I add my time in Ireland? I´ve read a little about the principle of aggregation of periods, which you can have between EU member states.

3. If you need at least 15 years to get a state pension, how does it work for the long term unemployed? What would they receive at the working age?

Thanks and sorry for long post.

Simple_Simone

jimmurt wrote: »

Hi,

I live in Spain and have contributed into their social security on and off since 2016. So 6 months full time employment 2016, gap, 10 months self employed 2017, gap, 10 months self employed 2018. I am about to have another small break from work.
The last time I took myself off the register so I wouldnt pay the mandatory €280/month when I wasnt working. A Spanish friend of mine is now telling me I´d be better off staying on it even when not working, so you keep adding to your period of contribution as the min to recieve a pension is 15 years. That´s the same minimum period as Ireland.

Some questions for any experts here:

1. If you miss the contributions or are not working for any time, do you reset for the 15 years? It seems harsh if so

2. If not, can I add my time in Ireland? I´ve read a little about the principle of aggregation of periods, which you can have between EU member states.

3. If you need at least 15 years to get a state pension, how does it work for the long term unemployed? What would they receive at the working age?

Thanks and sorry for long post.

1 & 2. The rules for Irish State Contributory pensions will change next year. In brief, at least 10 years of paid PRSI contributions (520 contributions) will be required to be eligible for the Irish State Contributory pension. That will get you 25% of the max contrib pension. You will need 40 years of PRSI contributions to get the max. Social Security contributions paid in other EU countries (and some non-EU countries) will also be taken into account.

3. People who aren't eligible for the State CONTRIBUTORY pension can apply for the NON-CONTRIBUTORY State pension which is means tested.

splinter65

Pension requirements here in Ireland are undergoing a massive overhaul right now that will come into play, and cause absolute pandemonium,on 01/01/2020.
I know nothing about Spain. Every country has its own rules.

jimmurt

Simple_Simone wrote: »

1 & 2. The rules for Irish State Contributory pensions will change next year. In brief, at least 10 years of paid PRSI contributions (520 contributions) will be required to be eligible for the Irish State Contributory pension. That will get you 25% of the max contrib pension. You will need 40 years of PRSI contributions to get the max. Social Security contributions paid in other EU countries (and some non-EU countries) will also be taken into account.

3. People who aren't eligible for the State CONTRIBUTORY pension can apply for the NON-CONTRIBUTORY State pension which is means tested.

Thanks for the reply. So the contributions do not have to be consectutive?

For example I worked for 8 years in Ireland but there weere gaps of 2-3 months one year. The years I worked there still count?

Also, I am a freelancer in Spain and so I do not contribute 2 or sometimes more months each year. Do they just count the number of months you do contribute to get to 15 years min. i.e. 15 * 12 = 180 months?

splinter65

jimmurt wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. So the contributions do not have to be consectutive?

For example I worked for 8 years in Ireland but there weere gaps of 2-3 months one year. The years I worked there still count?

Also, I am a freelancer in Spain and so I do not contribute 2 or sometimes more months each year. Do they just count the number of months you do contribute to get to 15 years min. i.e. 15 * 12 = 180 months?

I think your asking if you have 40 credits will that be counted as a year. No they just count the number of contributions you make. If you only make 40 contributions you only are awarded 40. If you sign on for the other 12 weeks then you will have 12 credits for that year too. To get a full contributory Irish pension in 2021 you will need 2080 credits and contributions where 1040 will have to be contributions.

jimmurt

splinter65 wrote: »

I think your asking if you have 40 credits will that be counted as a year. No they just count the number of contributions you make. If you only make 40 contributions you only are awarded 40. If you sign on for the other 12 weeks then you will have 12 credits for that year too. To get a full contributory Irish pension in 2021 you will need 2080 credits and contributions where 1040 will have to be contributions.

So a contribution of 1 week is equal to 1 credit?

Sorry but your last sentence is a little confusing.

I will need 2080 credits where 1040 will have to be contributions?

For example, let´s say:

2016 - I worked 20 weeks, 32 weeks unemployed
2017 - worked 10 weeks, 42 weeks unemployed
2018 - worked 50 weeks, 2 weeks unemployed

I have in total 80 weeks of contributions in that 3 year period. Does that equal 80 credits?

Simple_Simone

jimmurt wrote: »

So the contributions do not have to be consectutive?

Correct

The Irish State Contributory Pension (ISCP) is calculated by adding up every weekly PRSI contribution that you paid during the whole of your working life, plus any reckonable credits that you may have accumulated (by signing on weekly, for example).


For example I worked for 8 years in Ireland but there were gaps of 2-3 months one year. The years I worked there still count?


It's not just about working, it's about whether you paid PRSI while working.

If you were in employment then presumably your employer would have deducted Class A PRSI from you. You can check this on your P60s for each year. What happened during the "gaps" - did you sign on?

If you were self-employed (as a freelancer) then the onus was on you to make an annual Class S PRSI payment. Did you?



Also, I am a freelancer in Spain and so I do not contribute 2 or sometimes more months each year. Do they just count the number of months you do contribute to get to 15 years min. i.e. 15 * 12 = 180 months?

Where are you getting the 15 years minimum from? I already told you that you need a minimum of 10 years' paid PRSI contributions (520 weeks) to be eligible for the Irish State Contributory pension! And it's probably best to forget about years and months - it's the number of weekly paid and credited contributions that you have made over your working lifetime that will matter when you reach pensionable age.

As above.

splinter65

jimmurt wrote: »

So a contribution of 1 week is equal to 1 credit?

Sorry but your last sentence is a little confusing.

I will need 2080 credits where 1040 will have to be contributions?

For example, let´s say:

2016 - I worked 20 weeks, 32 weeks unemployed
2017 - worked 10 weeks, 42 weeks unemployed
2018 - worked 50 weeks, 2 weeks unemployed

I have in total 80 weeks of contributions in that 3 year period. Does that equal 80 credits?

Are you referring to your Spanish contributions. As I said already I’ve no idea how the Spanish system works but if you want to look at you Irish record then here’s the link.
https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/secure/RequestSIContributionRecord.aspx

jimmurt

Simple_Simone wrote: »

As above.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am getting 15 years as that is the min time in Spain (as compared to 10 in Ireland).

Yes when I was working in Ireland PRSI was deducted so when I say working I mean contributing PRSI. During the one gap I had, of about 3 months I didnign on. All the work was as an employee.

So my only credit would have come from PRSI deducted by my employers.

jimmurt

splinter65 wrote: »

Are you referring to your Spanish contributions. As I said already I’ve no idea how the Spanish system works but if you want to look at you Irish record then here’s the link.
https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/secure/RequestSIContributionRecord.aspx

That link is handy. I am going to use it. Will post here how I get on.

Thanks.