Old-age Pension

Old-age Pension

Old age pension

A condition for entitlement to old-age pension is accumulation of the required period of insurance and attainment of the stipulated age (i.e., retirement age or the age derived therefrom or 65 years of age).

On 1 January 2010, Act No. 155/1995 Coll., on pension insurance (the “Pension Insurance Act”), was amended. A new retirement age and the new required period of insurance for entitlement to old-age pension were set; changes were also made to the pension amount. The age of retirement also increased, taking effect from 30 September 2011.

In addition to the entitlement to old-age pension prior to reaching retirement age (Section 32 of the Pension Insurance Act), the regulation differentiates between entitlements to old-age pension in accordance with the following provisions:

• Section 29(1) of the Pension Insurance Act (old-age pension upon reaching retirement age)
• Section 29(2) of the Pension Insurance Act (so-called “proportional” old-age pension)
• Section 29(3) of the Pension Insurance Act (old-age pension upon accumulating 30 years of insurance)
• Section 29(4) of the Pension Insurance Act (old-age pension upon fulfilling the conditions for entitlement to a disability pension).

 

Retirement age

a) For insured individuals born prior to 1936

The retirement age for men is 60 years old

The retirement age for women is:

• 53 years old, if at least 5 children were raised
• 54 years old, if at least 3 or 4 children were raised
• 55 years old, if at least 2 children were raised
• 56 years old, if at least 1 child was raised
• 57 years old

b) For insured individuals born between 1936 and 1977

Year of birth	Retirement age for
	men	women who raised the following number of children
		0	1	2	3 - 4	5 or more
1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977	60y+2m 60y+4m 60y+6m 60y+8m 60y+10m    61y 61y+2m 61y+4m 61y+6m 61y+8m 61y+10m    62y 62y+2m 62y+4m 62y+6m 62y+8m 62y+10m    63y 63y+2m 63y+4m 63y+6m 63y+8m 63y+10m    64y 64y+2m 64y+4m 64y+6m 64y+8m 64y+10m    65y 65y+2m 65y+4m 65y+6m 65y+8m 65y+10m    66y 66y+2m 66y+4m 66y+6m 66y+8m 66y+10m    67y	57y    57y    57y 57y+4m 57y+8m    58y 58y+4m 58y+8m    59y 59y+4m 59y+8m    60y 60y+4m 60y+8m    61y 61y+4m 61y+8m    62y 62y+4m 62y+8m 63y+2m 63y+8m 63y+10m    64y 64y+2m 64y+4m 64y+6m 64y+8m 64y+10m    65y 65y+2m 65y+4m 65y+6m 65y+8m 65y+10m    66y 66y+2m 66y+4m 66y+6m 66y+8m 66y+10m    67y	56y    56y    56y    56y 56y+4m 56y+8m    57y 57y+4m 57y+8m    58y 58y+4m 58y+8m    59y 59y+4m 59y+8m 60y 60y+4m 60y+8m 61y 61y+4m 61y+8m 62y+2m 62y+8m 63y+2m 63y+8m 64y+2m 64y+6m 64y+8m 64y+10m    65y 65y+2m 65y+4m 65y+6m 65y+8m 65y+10m    66y 66y+2m 66y+4m 66y+6m 66y+8m 66y+10m    67y	55y    55y    55y    55y    55y 55y+4m 55y+8m    56y 56y+4m 56y+8m    57y 57y+4m 57y+8m 58y 58y+4m 58y+8m 59y 59y+4m 59y+8m 60y 60y+4m 60y+8m 61y+2m 61y+8m 62y+2m 62y+8m 63y+2m 63y+8m 64y+2m 64y+8m 65y+2m 65y+4m 65y+6m 65y+8m 65y+10m    66y 66y+2m 66y+4m 66y+6m 66y+8m 66y+10m    67y	54y    54y    54y    54y    54y    54y 54y+4m 54y+8m    55y 55y+4m 55y+8m    56y 56y+4m 56y+8m    57y 57y+4m 57y+8m    58y 58y+4m 58y+8m    59y 59y+4m 59y+8m 60y+2m 60y+8m 61y+2m 61y+8m 62y+2m 62y+8m 63+2my 63y+8m 64y+2m 64y+8m 65y+2m 65y+8m    66y 66y+2m 66y+4m 66y+6m 66y+8m 66y+10m    67y	53y    53y    53y    53y    53y    53y    53y 53y+4m 53y+8m    54y 54y+4m 54y+8m    55y 55y+4m 55y+8m    56y 56y+4m 56y+8m 57y 57y+4m 57y+8m 58y 58y+4m 58y+8m 59y+2m 59y+8m 60y+2m 60y+8m 61y+2m 61y+8m 62y+2m 62y+8m 63y+2m 63y+8m 64y+2m 64y+8m 65y+2m 65y+8m 66y+2m 66y+8m 66y+10m    67y

 

c) for insured individuals born after 1977

- the number of calendar months that equals twice the difference between the year of birth and 1977 is added to the age of 67 years.

d) for insured individuals who worked in category I employment for the stipulated period and members of the resistance

- the manner of determining the age for entering into old-age retirement remains unchanged. For these groups of insured, the age limit stipulated by regulations valid prior to 1 January 1996 remains valid.

 

Old-age pension upon reaching retirement age [Section 29(1) of the Pension Insurance Act]

The required period of insurance gradually increases depending on the retirement age of the insured individual or the age of the insured individual. The necessary period for entitlement to old-age pension under Section 29(1) of the Pension Insurance Act amounts to:

Retirement age reached	Required period of insurance:
before 2010	25 years
in 2010	26 years
in 2011	27 years
in 2012	28 years
in 2013	29 years
in 2014	30 years
in 2015	31 years
in 2016	32 years
in 2017	33 years
in 2018	34 years
after 2018	35 years

To ascertain the required period of insurance, only the year when one reaches retirement age is decisive. Insured individuals who have not accumulated the required period of insurance on the day that they reach retirement age will not receive an old-age pension on such date. Only after they accumulate the required period of insurance will they be able to receive an old-age pension.

“Proportional” old-age pension [Section 29(2) of the Pension Insurance Act]

In the event that insured individuals are not entitled to old-age pension under Section 29(1), they shall be entitled to old-age pension under Section 29(2) of the Pension Insurance Act, provided their accumulated period of insurance is at least:

• 15 years and they attain at least 65 years of age prior to 2010
• 16 years and, in 2010,  they are at least 5 years older than the retirement age stipulated under Section 32 of the Pension Insurance Act  for men of the same date of birth
• 17 years and, in 2011, they are at least 5 years older than the retirement age stipulated under Section 32 of the Pension Insurance Act for men of the same date of birth
• 18 years and, in 2012, they are at least 5 years older than the retirement age stipulated under Section 32 of the Pension Insurance Act for men of the same date of birth
• 19 years and, in 2013, they are at least 5 years older than the retirement age stipulated under Section 32 of the Pension Insurance Act for men of the same date of birth
• 20 years and, after 2013, they are at least 5 years older than the retirement age stipulated under Section 32 of the Pension Insurance Act for men of the same date of birth.

Old-age pension upon amassing 30 years of insurance [Section 29(3) of the Pension Insurance Act]

The entitlement to old-age pension arises for insured individuals who attain retirement age after 2014 and accumulated at least 30 years of insurance, provided they did not fulfil the conditions of Section 29(1) of the Pension Insurance Act; in this case, notionally credited periods of insurance shall not be included in the insurance period.

Old-age pension upon fulfilling the conditions for entitled to disability pension [Section 29(4) of the Pension Insurance Act]

Insured individuals who attain 65 years of age and failed to accumulate the required period of insurance to be entitled to an old-age pension under Section 29(1), (2) or (3) of the Pension Insurance Act shall also be entitled to an old-age pension if they became disabled (regardless of the degree of disability) and accumulated the necessary period of insurance for entitlement to a disability pension or became disabled due to a work-related injury.

Recognition of insurance under Section 29(4) of the Pension Insurance Act does not prevent establishment of the entitlement to an old-age pension under Section 29(1), (2), (3) of the Pension Insurance Act.

Amount of old-age pension recognised under Section 29(1), (2), (3) of the Pension Insurance Act

The manner of determination of the old-age pension amount remains the same for insured individuals who do not raise the percentage assessment of pension through gainful activity after becoming entitled to a pension. The amount of the basic assessment in 2012 amounts to CZK 2 270, the amount of the percentage assessment amounts to 1.5% of the calculation basis for each whole year of insurance, but at least CZK 770 per month.

Amount of old-age pension recognised under Section 29(4) of the Pension Insurance Act

The amount of the percentage assessment of this pension is determined in the same way that the amount of the percentage assessment for disability pensions is determined, and for each year of insurance amounts to:

• 0.5% of the calculation basis in the case of first degree disability.
• 0.75% of the calculation basis in the case of second degree disability.
• 1.5% of the calculation basis in the case of third degree disability.

In 2012, the amount of the basic assessment of this type of old-age pension amounts to CZK 2 270 per month; the amount of the percentage assessment may not be lower than CZK 770 per month.

Even if the degree of disability changes for the individuals receiving this pension, the old-age pension is not recalculated and will continue to be paid out in the same amount.

The mentioned type of old-age pension shall not increase over the period of gainful activity after the establishment of the entitlement to this pension. 

Concurrence of payments of old-age pension recognised under Section 29 of the Pension Insurance Act with income from gainful activity

As of 31 December 2009, insured individuals may, after being recognised an old-age pension under Section 29 of the Pension Insurance Act, work and collect their old-age pension in the full amount regardless of the type and scope of the gainful activity carried out. In addition to this possibility, individuals receiving an old-age pension have the possibility to request that only half of the old-age pension be paid out while carrying out gainful activity.

Conditions for the entitlement to an early old-age pension

The basic condition that has to be fulfilled is accumulation of the required period of insurance, i.e., the  period of insurance set out in Section 29(1) or (3) of the Pension Insurance Act. The entitlement to this pension then depends on reaching the age of retirement:

• If the age of retirement of the insured individual is at least 63 years old, the entitlement arises no earlier than upon reaching at least 60 years of age, or
• If the age of retirement of the insured individual is less than 63 years old, the entitlement to an early old-age pension arises no earlier than on the day from which no more than three years remain until retirement age is reached.

It continues to apply that this pension cannot be recognised earlier than as of the day of filing of the application for this pension, with the date of establishment of the entitlement being deemed the day from which it is recognised and, in the case of recognition of early retirement, the entitlement to old-age pension under Section 29 of the Pension Insurance Act does not arise.

 

Transformation of full disability pension, partial disability pension and disability pension into old-age pension and the amount thereof

Conditions for the transformation:

1)  Receipt of full disability pension or partial disability pension and reaching 65 years of age prior to 1 January 2010

• If individuals receiving full disability or partial disability pension reach 65 years of age prior to 1 January 2010, they lose entitlement to full disability or partial disability pension on 1 January 2010 and, at the same time, they become entitled to old-age pension in the amount of the hitherto paid out full disability or partial disability pension.

2)  Receipt of disability pension (regardless of the degree of disability) and reaching 65 years of age after 31 December 2009

• On the day that individuals receiving the disability pension reach 65 years of age after 31 December 2009, they lose entitlement to disability pension and, at the same time, they become entitled to old-age pension in the amount of the hitherto paid out disability pension.

A decision has to be issued to those individuals receiving a disability pension that they will be entitled to an old-age pension instead of a disability pension of the first, second or third degree.

Decisive at all times is the amount of the full or partial disability insurance as of 31 December 2009 in the case of individuals who reached 65 years of age prior to 1 January 2010 (point 1), or the amount of the disability pension as at the date of reaching 65 years of age after 31 December 2009 (point 2); any change in the degree of disability no longer has any impact on the amount of the old-age pension paid out.

This old-age pension shall not increase while individuals are involved in gainful activity after their entitlement to this pension has been established. The entitlement to this old-age pension does not preclude the entitlement to old-age pension under Section 29 of the Pension Insurance Act.

 

Latest modifications 3. 2. 2012