Ireland may be close by, but this doesn’t make the rules around pensions any less complicated.
The number of paid Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions you require before being eligible for an Irish pension depends on when you reached pension age. If it was on or after 6 April 2012, you need to have 10 years’ worth of contributions.
However, if you reached pension age between April 6, 2002 and April 5, 2012, you will only require five years. Before that, it was three years.
Most generous pensions for expats
There are two countries that stand out for the length of contributions you have to make.
Germany may not top the list for British expats, but anyone who has worked there for at least five years qualifies for a state pension. Subject to certain conditions, you might be able to get your contributions refunded if you paid in for less than that. If you’re not eligible for a refund, you’ll get a pension instead.
In Cyprus, although any person who has officially worked there and made all the necessary contributions receives a state pension, you need to have done so for 15 years.
Boosting your UK state pension while living and working abroad
In the UK, you need 10 qualifying years to be eligible for any payment under the new state pension rules. Most people do this by paying National Insurance contributions (NICs), but there are other ways.
If you fall short of this, you usually won’t get anything, but you will keep any private pensions you’ve built up and they can be accessed as normal.
Dean Butler, of pension firm Standard Life, said: “When you move abroad, any pension plans you have in the UK won’t follow you unless you arrange for them to be transferred overseas. Instead, they’ll stay where they are, meaning once you reach 55, or 57 from April 6, 2028, you can start taking money from them, even while you’re overseas.
“You can still claim your UK state pension abroad as long as you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify.”