Donegal people who worked in Britain have been warned they have just weeks left to benefit from a special concession to top up their UK pension.
Thousands of Irish people worked in Britain and paid the equivalent of our social insurance there, giving them access to a pension.
There is now an opportunity for these people to add up to 16 extra years to their UK pension, but the window closes on April 5.
Opting for the special top up could be hugely beneficial, allowing people to get a much higher pension from Britain in addition to any pensions they are due to get from this country, according to Frank Buckley of USP Financial, a County Offaly-based firm that specialises in helping returned immigrants secure their UK state pension entitlements.
He told today’s Irish Independent that, under the UK system, people are normally allowed pay for a maximum of six historic years missing from their national insurance (NI) record there. NI is the equivalent of PRSI here.
“They are missing because they did not work in the UK in those years because they left the country,” Mr Buckley said.
Major changes were introduced to the UK state pension in 2016.
One of the changes was the introduction of what was called the New State Pension.
Under the old state pension people required 30 qualifying years on their NI record to secure the full standard rate which is currently £141.85 (€160.82) per week. This is increasing to £156.20 per week from mid-April.
With the new pension people are now required to have 35 qualifying years on their NI record to reach the full standard rate of £185.15 per week. This is increasing to £203.85 from mid-April.
Read the full report on www.independent.ie
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