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Early Retirement

Early retirement usually means retirement before the age of 65. It may happen because a person is obliged to retire from their job at a certain age, because they choose to take early retirement, or because they have been let go. Sometimes people who are described as taking early retirement have been made redundant. Others who have been obliged to take early retirement may regard themselves as unemployed and there are special provisions for older jobseekers. If you are made redundant, you may get a statutory redundancy lump sum. The statutory (that means laid down by law) lump sum is the minimum sum that you must get. A higher payment may of course be negotiated with your employer, either by you or by your union. If you retire early, for whatever reason, you may be entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit, and later to Jobseeker’s Allowance. You may also be eligible for a range of back to work and back to education schemes. If you do retire early, you should organise to continue your PRSI contributions so that your entitlement to a State Pension (Contributory) is maintained.

If you retire early and do nothing, you will have a number of years during which you have no PRSI contributions. This will mean that you may have difficulty in qualifying for the State pension (Contributory). If you are not employed or self-employed, you do not have to pay PRSI contributions. You can keep your PRSI contributions record up to date, either by getting credits or paying voluntary PRSI contributions.

Job Seekers Benefit/Jog Seekers Allowance

Whether you consider yourself to be retired or unemployed, you may be eligible for Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) if you are aged under 66. You may then be eligible for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA). If you are claiming JA or JB and you are 62 or over, you are not required to engage with the activation process and you will not be subject to penalty rates for nonengagement. Note that to qualify for either Jobseeker’s Benefit or Allowance you must be genuinely seeking work and be available for full-time employment and these conditions will continue to apply to older jobseekers. You can voluntarily avail of a range of supports (for example, training or employment support programmes) from the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection. To qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) you must, among other things, be unemployed, aged under 66, capable of work, available for work and genuinely seeking work. If you have left work voluntarily, for example, if you have chosen early retirement, you may not get JB for 9 weeks after leaving work. After that, you may have a problem proving that you are available for and genuinely seeking work.