Applying for State Pension using "blended" method - contributions in Ireland and the US

lookyhere

I'm in the process of applying for the pension as I'll turn 66 next month. I started off by applying for the Contributory Pension in early December. I thought I'd get a reply in a few weeks and if it was a low figure, I'd then apply for Non-Contributory. But since that is going slowly, I now have a Non-Contributory application in the works too.

I have been given an initial offer of €165.10 for the Contributory Pension. They based this on 738 contributions from 1976 to 2022, with all those contributions being prior to 1992. That gives a yearly average of 16.

I lived and worked in the US from 1992 through 2013. They haven't credited me with any contributions (US) for those years as they've only now contacted the SSA for their records.

I returned to Ireland in 2013 to care for my mother and was on Carers Allowance until she died in 2016, I have no paid contributions for those 2.5 years. Since then I've been on JSA and have no contributions for those years either. I understand once they review my US contributions that under the bilateral agreement, I will get credits for the years since I returned from the US.

Anyone have any experience of getting using combined contributions (Ireland and US) to maximise their Irish pension?

doc22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058232409/applying-for-state-pension-using-blended-method-contributions-in-ireland-and-the-us

Are you receiving any US payment? why not? Blended might not help you......

lookyhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118621329#Comment_118621329

I am eligible for Social Security Benefits from the US but haven't applied yet. Full retirement age for someone born in 1956 is 66 years and 4 months.

If you start receiving benefits at age 66 and 4 months you get 100% of your monthly benefit. If you delay receiving retirement benefits until after your full retirement age, your monthly benefit continues to increase.

My understanding is that once State Pensions here get records from the SSA(US) they will adjust my contributions to take account of those, which would then increase the Irish pension amount.

doc22

I am unfamiliar with exactly how it works but it's not as simple as adding credits.Say if you needed 40 years for Irish pension bilateral agreements don't mean you can add 20yr in US and 20yr in Ireland to claim full Irish pension it pro-rated with your US entitlements and from your description, most of it will be the US element 1000 vs 700 credits.

On returning to Ireland you may have needed to have paid Irish employment credits to activate the JSA and carers credits, as such you never re-entered the Irish system.

hawthorne

International Programs - Totalization Agreement with Ireland (ssa.gov)

TheBeach

My understanding is that they will update the credits for your carers allowance and jobseekers allowance when they receive your USA Record, and this could enhance the Irish part of your pension. The US authorities will also examine your right to a US pension now on foot of the request from the Irish authorities. It is the norm that they will only request your US information when you've applied for pension and not beforehand, as it wouldn't come up light until then.

bog master

You may be better off taking the US pension along with the Irish as I have done. Use the online Social Security calculator which would give you an estimate of your US pension, that is if you are eligible.

lookyhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118718279#Comment_118718279

Did they recalculate your Irish contributory pension after they got records from the US, or did you already have enough Irish contributions to qualify for the maximum Irish pension?

I rang pensions (Con) on Monday and they confirmed they had gotten the necessary info from the US SSA, but they still haven't given me an adjusted figure.

bog master

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118721195#Comment_118721195

I applied for US pension at 65 at a slightly reduced rate and at 67 applied for Irish Contributory Pension. I did not have enough Irish contributions to qualify for full rate but am at approximately 85% of the full rate and the two combined is well in excess of the full Irish rate.

lookyhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118723882#Comment_118723882

Mine is still not sorted. I was paid a partial Contrib Pension last week. This week I was told I'd be paid the full Non-Contrib Pension and will probably be paid that until such time as they figure out the US credits to use in order to re-assess the Irish Contrib Pension.

I haven't applied for the US pension yet. Will let you know how it works out.

Are you taxed on the US Pension or on the Irish Contrib Pension?