r/irishpersonalfinance • u/Fastidiousfool1 • 17h ago
Retirement Non Contributory Pension
I just want to check something for my Mum. Essentially, my parents are married, my dad retired with a good pension. My mum stopped working young to raise the family. Is my mum entitled to any form of pension or is it means tested based on my dad's pension? She did pay into stamps but no idea how much.
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u/Short_Flight984 17h ago
go to social welfare, she can claim stamps for being an at home parent raising kids, but go to social welfare they are very helpful
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u/Lazy_Fall_6 15h ago
Yeah my own mother tried this recently. She kids before 1995 which was some sort of date on the homecarer credit thing so she got fuck all from the time she was out with three kids before going back to work in 1996.
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u/Short_Flight984 13h ago
thats awful, people really need to get on the books in some way to get their pension, the fact that its means tested is such a slap in the face.
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u/Bright_Fan_9168 11h ago
Or citizens information. If she has ten years paid stamps, she can pass GO! If her children were born after April 94 (? Check) then she might be eligible for up to 20 yr home caring credits from birth of oldest child to youngest turning 12. Similarly caring for a parent or older relatives. Worth checking out.
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u/crescendodiminuendo 17h ago
She should go to MyWelfare.ie and request a contributions statement. This will state what she has contributed in the past.
She may qualify for some of the contribution schemes - depending on her age and when she was caring for children. Look at the Home Caring Periods scheme or the Homemakers scheme. As far as I am aware they are not means tested or affected by your dad’s pension so that should not impact her entitlement.
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u/Interesting-Word-784 16h ago
And if she is getting money thru your dad it will show up on his mywelfare.ie page. I recently saw this on my own father’s page.
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u/Critical-Wallaby-683 17h ago edited 16h ago
She will be entiteled to non contributory state pension. She can claim up to 20yrs prsi for caring periods as well as any years She did work outside the home. You can get her prsi record and see what contributions she has and get the caring periods added if needed.
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u/Hot_Run_1133 17h ago
20 years not 2. She can claim from the birth of her first child til her youngest turned 12
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u/dellyx 15h ago
I see others mention credits, but if your dad has a full state contributory pension, an increase for a qualified adult (IQA) is what I'd suggest. Unless I misunderstand how it works, it's just shy of a full pension and is based on your dad's contributions. I've another 15 years to go, but am not far off having achieved the full rate, and working on the basis I'll get the IQA since my wife stopped working after the kids came along.
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u/Open-Chemical-6352 8h ago
Shes entitled to non contributory pension. Apply for both contributory and non contributory pension
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u/40yrs-energyindustry 8h ago
If your Mum has income of less than €100 per week or less than €40,000 in the bank your Father will qualify for the Increase for Qualified Adult pension (IQA). Joint ownership of the family home is not counted as an asset. All other investments your Mother owns are. So if your Mother has no income, make sure she has less than €40k in her name, or €80k in a joint account at the time of signing the application form.
Assuming your Father is receiving the full State Pension, the IQA for your mother is €199.40 per week increasing to €206.10 in January 2027. Note that this IQA is taxed as your Father's income, your parents will not be taxed as a two-income family. As your Father is presumably on a good pension plus state pension, he will most likely pay 40% tax on the IQA. The IQA increases to €286.40 (€277.40 from January 2027) on your Mother's 70th birthday.
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u/ChoiceFix4037 1h ago
If she has 10 years PAID contributions she can pay voluntary contributions going forward … until she’s 65 .. maybe 67 not 100% sure on this part . Unfortunately homemakers credit don’t count towards the 10 years paid contributions to pay vol cons going forward … they will calculate her at the minimum annual payment which is less than 600 euro a year more likely around 550 annually so based on her age , she could potentially make up more years towards a contributory ! pension which is not ! means tested . Good luck to her and good for you for helping her .
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u/Fastidiousfool1 16h ago
Thanks for all of the quick responses and the excellent advice. I will definitely follow the suggested lines of enquiries mentioned above
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