Can you combine pensions from different countries?

Not into one payment from one country. Social security agreements and EU coordination let countries add your years together to decide whether you qualify, but each country then pays for its own periods. Germany states the second half in one sentence: Those foreign years do not increase the German payment, because each country pays only for its own periods (Source: deutsche-rentenversicherung.de, read 3 October 2026). Years in several countries can therefore lead to several separate pensions, each paid under its own rules. Our post on social security agreements covers the counting; this one covers the amount.

How does each country work out its share?

• Germany. The gate is five years of insurance, and Deutsche Rentenversicherung states that the German and the foreign insurance periods are added together to test it, so years insured elsewhere in the EU can carry you through a gate you assumed you had failed (Source: deutsche-rentenversicherung.de, read 3 October 2026).
• United Kingdom. If you have fewer than 10 UK years, gov.uk states that contributions you made in the EEA, Switzerland or a country with a UK social security agreement can be added to your UK years to carry you past the 10 year threshold, with the amount still based only on your UK years (Source: gov.uk, The new State Pension, read 3 October 2026).
• Ireland. The ordinary floor is 520 paid full rate contributions, which is ten years, and the Department of Social Protection states that if you do not qualify on Irish insurance alone and you hold periods in another EU state or an agreement country, the records are added together and Ireland pays a pro rata share (Source: Department of Social Protection SW19 2026 and gov.ie, read 3 October 2026).
• United States. If you have at least six US credits, SSA can count your coverage in an agreement country toward the US threshold and pay a partial benefit sized to the share of your career completed in the United States (Source: ssa.gov and irs.gov, read 3 October 2026).
• Spain. Where your combined record qualifies, Spain compares a calculation on your Spanish periods alone with one on the combined basis and pays the higher (Source: seg-social.es and BOE Real Decreto 241/2026, read 3 October 2026).
• Portugal. The floor rises with the length of the career, and on an aggregated pension it is reduced in proportion to the Portuguese years alone (Source: seg-social.pt, read 4 October 2026).

Can money move from one country's fund to another?

Only where a country's own rules provide a route. For New Zealand, our entry reads: Australia is excluded from cash altogether: since 1 July 2013 the only route there is a transfer into a complying Australian scheme, and money moved there cannot go on to a third country (Source: ird.govt.nz, taxtechnical.ird.govt.nz, workandincome.govt.nz, read 4 October 2026).

What do we do here?

We identify where each pension sits and who holds the record today, with sources. We give no advice on whether to move money between schemes. The country hubs for the examples above: Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand.

Our free pension checker and our free map start from your own work history. Our pension questions pages answer single country questions, our authority answers publish what national pension institutions told us in writing, and our monthly data release publishes our agreement routes and deadline rows as CSV, each with its source and read date.

Frequently asked questions

Will the country I live in pay all of it? Not on the rules above. Each country that pays does so for its own periods.

Do I have to apply in every country? Not always. Where Slovenia's rule applies, one application names every country you were insured in. Our post on where to apply sets out the rules, with sources.

Does PensionHunter give financial advice? No. We identify and research. We give no financial advice and take no percentage of anyone's pension.

Sources

• Germany, pension portals directory entry, citing deutsche-rentenversicherung.de, read 3 October 2026.
• United Kingdom, pension portals directory entry, citing gov.uk, The new State Pension, read 3 October 2026.
• Ireland, pension portals directory entry, citing Department of Social Protection SW19 2026 and gov.ie, read 3 October 2026.
• Spain, pension portals directory entry, citing seg-social.es and BOE Real Decreto 241/2026, read 3 October 2026.
• Portugal, pension portals directory entry, citing seg-social.pt, read 4 October 2026.
• United States, pension portals directory entry, citing ssa.gov and irs.gov, read 3 October 2026.
• New Zealand, pension portals directory entry, citing ird.govt.nz, taxtechnical.ird.govt.nz, workandincome.govt.nz, read 4 October 2026.