The International Schools Review Forum

I taught in Germany for 2 years about 10 years ago.
1. If I return to Germany would I be continuing into a pension contribution system with 2 years already in?
2. If I taught in an EU country other than Germany can I somehow make those 2 years working in Germany work for me in terms of any pension contribution I made?
3. If I do not return to Germany or any other EU country is there a state pension contribution I made for those 2 years that I can apply to have returned to me?

Are you an EU citizen?

In response to your Inquiries:

1) Yes, if you returned to Germany you would have two years vested (assuming its a full 24 months). You need 60 months of contributions (5 years) before you are vested and can collect a pension at 66. Its possible if you went to Uni during this time or had other life events you could get credit during those periods as well. You would have to request a review and submit the appropriate documentation to have additional credits added.

2) If you were an EU citizen, you could have continued to make voluntary payments and have earned credits. Its possible you could make payments for the last fiscal year and have 3 years credits. You would have to do more work to make voluntary contributions beyond the current year but it is possible. If you were not an EU citizen, but still working in the EU you could have continued to make voluntary pension contributions, but you can only go back and make them for this year, not years further back.

As for other countries, it depends what countries, and how much you have vested. Its possible you could do something, but its more probable that the best you could do is get your payments refunded and cashed out, and then use that to buy a limited number of credits into another pension scheme. Thats likely the best you could do, and youd be lucky in a lot of regions just to get your coin back. There isnt a global EU pension program that moves around with you. Germany probably has one of the most flexible systems.

3) Yes, after youve been gone for 2 years without contributions you can apply to have your account refunded and cashed out to you. It takes about 60 days, and the coin is deposited into a bank account you designate.