The Czech Social Security Administration (“CSSA”) has published an updated guide for future pensioners, which contains detailed instructions on how to apply for a pension. It explains when we become entitled to a pension and how it is paid and calculated.

Before applying for a pension, it is necessary to:

1)    Check when you meet the conditions for pension eligibility, which are reaching the retirement age and obtaining the required period of insurance. This information can be found in the application entitled Informative Pension Application IDA. If we have not yet completed the required time to qualify for a pension, the application will also show how many years and days you have left to qualify. It can also calculate the estimated amount of your old-age pension. And for those who do not want to download the application, there is a pension calculator that can be used if you have less than 5 years remaining until retirement age.

2)    Regularly monitor the insurance periods registered with the Czech Social Security Administration. Here again, the IDA application can be used to display all periods of insurance and any substitute periods of insurance.

3)    Procure all documents about the periods that are not in the CSSA records. These periods are called substitute periods of insurance. These include for example periods of study or military service.

4)    Decide how we want to have our pension paid. In the case of payment to the account, the account must be in your name or your spouse’s name and you need to be able to prove that you are the account holder. A rather unused option for the future is to collect your pension in person at the post office, for a fee of CZK 29 per month.

If you reach retirement age but decide to continue working, you can do so and working beyond retirement age without receiving old-age pension will be reflected in the amount of your future pension.

If you decide to apply for an old-age pension and meet the conditions for claiming it, you will write an application at the regional Social Security Administration office in your place of residence. The earliest you can apply is four months before the required pension date. Attention, writing the application is time-consuming and the CSSA therefore recommends arranging a specific date via online reservation on the CSSA website.

You can apply for a pension in person, but you may also authorise another person based on a power of attorney. Its model can be found at the following CSSA link: model power of attorney. 

For more information, do not hesitate to download the Guide for Future Retirees 2022, which is available in electronic form at the CSSZ website. In addition to the above, it also contains a table of retirement ages and periods of insurance, as well as important contacts. 

Author: Roman Burnus, Valérie Kovářová