consolidating pensions having worked in different countries

kb92830

So if my annual income exceeded 84240 for all the years I was there, I would presumably be entitled to the Swiss maximum pension as I would have the 44 years they require.

I am not sure that it is correct, you would have to have contributions for the full 44 years of earnings at or above the maximum insured. The likelyhood is that the UK contribution value would be below the the amount required to be equivalent. I think it would be safer to work it out on 34 years at the minimum and 10 years at the maximum, so in this case it would be 31:44`s at 14040 per annum plus 10:44`s at 28080 per annum which would give an entitlement of 17550 Chf`s per year or approximately 12055 GBP per annum

Here is another good link for explaining the Swiss pension systems

http://euracs.eu/summaries/pension-summary-switzerland/


There are online calculators but unfortunately they are not clever enough to give an accurate result.

Sunbeam25

I think a bit's missing from this! The final calculation must be pro-rata.


In my case:


UK calculation:


1A) 35 years in the UK => maximum state pension
1B) 35/35 of 45 years in the UK => maximum state pension


I get the higher, but they are the same


Swiss calculation:


2A) 10 years in Switzerland = n1 (the ESCAL website calc)
2B) 10/44 of 45 years in Switzerland = n2


I get the greater of (1A and 1B) plus the greater of (2A and 2B)

---

SteveG


15 years sate pension UK ( 8 years NCO RAF / 7 years industry )
15 years state pension Germany
11 years state pension Switzerland


total 41 years...


1A) 15 years UK state pension
1B) 15/35 of max UK state pension


2A) 15 years German pension
2B) 15/41 of 41 years of German pension (no idea what max is)


3A) 11 years of Swiss state pension
3B) 11/41 of 41 years of Swiss state pension (max is 44)


Take the highest from each pair and add those figures together.

Sunbeam25

I've underlined what I think is the important bit







How your pension is calculated

Step 1 — National rate

If you've worked in several EU countries, each country's pension authority will first calculate your pension using its own rules, based on the contributions you paid there (known as independent benefit).
If you have been covered for less than a year in one country, a special rule may apply, as some countries do not provide a pension for short periods: your months of insurance or residence in the country where you worked for a short time will not be lost but taken into account in the calculation of your pension by the countries where you worked longer.
If you have a problem obtaining the payment of a pension for working periods of less than a year, .

Step 2 — EU-equivalent rate

Then each country adds together your contribution periods from all countries and works out how much pension you would get if these contributions had all been paid into its own scheme.
This amount is then adjusted to reflect the actual time you were covered in that country (called the pro rata benefit).
Result

These 2 amounts are compared and you will receive whichever is higher.
Each country's decision on your claim will be explained in a special note, the you will receive.

Sunbeam25

kb92830 wrote: »

I am not sure that it is correct, you would have to have contributions for the full 44 years of earnings at or above the maximum insured. The likelyhood is that the UK contribution value would be below the the amount required to be equivalent. I think it would be safer to work it out on 34 years at the minimum and 10 years at the maximum, so in this case it would be 31:44`s at 14040 per annum plus 10:44`s at 28080 per annum which would give an entitlement of 17550 Chf`s per year or approximately 12055 GBP per annum.

I prefer your way of course because the numbers are bigger, but that suggests that the Swiss will be looking at the actual amount of NI I paid in the UK, not just the length of time I paid it?


The references I can find talk about adding the contribution periods together, but they may be over-simplifying

kb92830

UK calculation:


1A) 35 years in the UK => maximum state pension
1B) 35/35 of 45 years in the UK => maximum state pension


I get the higher, but they are the same


Swiss calculation:


2A) 10 years in Switzerland = n1 (the ESCAL website calc)
2B) 10/44 of 45 years in Switzerland = n2


I get the greater of (1A and 1B) plus the greater of (2A and 2B)

I think your calculation is wrong, it should be:

Calculation A

35 years UK contribution = full state Pension
Plus
10/44 of your AHV entitlement based upon earnings in Switzerland

Calculation B

35 years UK contribution = full state Pension (Can´t be any higher due to maximum number of years contributions)

Or

44 years of AHV entitlement based upon earnings and AHV savings

Whichever is the higher amount is what you would be entitled to, but it is extremely difficult to calculate exact numbers as the swiss use level of earnings in addition to the number of years contributions

You are correct in the assumption

I prefer your way of course because the numbers are bigger, but that suggests that the Swiss will be looking at the actual amount of NI I paid in the UK, not just the length of time I paid it

level of earnings/NI contributions will be taken in to account, but I do not know what the agreed amounts are under the reciprocal agreements although I think it is fair to assume based on earnings disparity between the UK and Switzerland NI contributions will not exceed the Swiss contribution on earnings above 84K Chf`s

The pro rata element is for what each country ends up paying, they do not pro rata the amount paid under the pension

Sunbeam25

A document by Derek Coulthard Manager of the DWP International Pensions section of the CoE.


Look at pages 12 - 15


http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/sscssr/Source/COULTHARDMAV_EU.pdf