margaretcarnes wrote:UK State Pensions aren't lost, but a frozen at the amount being payed when the pensioner moves to SOME other countries, of which Oz, NZ and Thailand are a few.
Fortunately for me, my UK state pension has never featured in my calculations, and anything will be a bonus when it happens.
I will be retiring to Thailand at the age of 55. Does that mean that I will receive my state pension when I'm old enough at the 2012 rate or at the rate being paid at my official retirement date (used to be at 65, but will probably be nearer 75 before I qualify)?
BB I would contact the state pension dept at Newcastle. You can make contributions as a retired person under the age of 65. It used to be 2 pound per week. It would be worth paying as you would then get the full pension when you are 65. Under the current rules it would be frozen at the amount at the first payment. You can also email them to get a pension forecast.
Woke up this morning breathing that's a good start to the day.
lindosfan1 wrote:You can make contributions as a retired person under the age of 65. It used to be 2 pound per week. It would be worth paying as you would then get the full pension when you are 65. Under the current rules it would be frozen at the amount at the first payment. You can also email them to get a pension forecast.
Are you saying that I could continue paying £2(ish) per week from the date of my early retirement to preserve my right to have my old age pension index linked in about 12 years time?
I will already have achieved 39 years and 6 months of contributions by early retirement date, so qualify for a full pension regardless by almost 10 years.
To be honest not sure about the 30 year rule, maybe Mags will know more about that. But yes you can continue paying. As you are in the UK I would contact Newcastle. I found them very helpful, I got my full state pension plus the married allowance for my Thai wife. They were very helpful. Also if your wife worked in the UK you could ask about her pension rights.
If you dont ask you dont get is the old saying.
Woke up this morning breathing that's a good start to the day.
Yes, of course you are right, I will need to contact Newcastle to find out how everything works. I've got my pre-retirement course at work in a couple of weeks time - I'll wait until after that, because more questions are bound to crop up.
I recently checked with the Pensions dept in the UK and they confirmed that, as I have more than 30 qualifying years, under current regulations, I will get the "full" pension on reaching the age when the incumbent government elects to pay it. As I have been registered as a "non-resident" my understanding is that my pension will be frozen at the rate on the day of qualifying.
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and then again I just sits" Punch 24th Oct 1906
BB - you will certainly be OK for the full basic pension contributions wise. I'm not sure about those £2 per week 'top up' payments mentioned by lindosfan though. I stopped working before retirement age at one time and had a couple of Pension Forecasts done and weekly payment options were never mentioned. The common payments are AVC's - additional voluntary contributions - which are around £700 per year now and just used to make up any potential pension shortfall.
Anyway you can check your exact retirement age online at the .gov.uk site - and request the forecast online.
As things are at the mo you are likely to be reaching the magic age at 66 ish. The proposed further increases to ages 67 and 68 are maybe going to be speeded up but fingers crossed might not come about. affect you.
I paid class 3 UK NI for years as an expat, this gave full retirement benifit, but not access to medical (unless emergency). Any one who is non resident for 3 months and not paying full NI, should de-register with their MD anyway as they do not qualify for NHS and the MD should not be claiming for him/her against the practice.
UK gov stopped taking these class 3 automatic payments and sent a letter saying that I no longer had to pay having contributed for more than 30 years and qualified for a full OAP allowance at the rate applicable when reaching retirenent age, there would be no rebate for more years paid.
However, If I wished to recieve death benifit I would have to make additional payments (AVCs). When I looked into this at the time the amount offered over the yearly cost of the AVC seemed a very expensive insurance policy and barely enough to cover my funeral expenses. Something like a cardboard box and tipped off the back of the IOW ferry!
Just thought, how could I recieve my death benifit? No mention of my estate in the letter.
A couple of comments above say that the rate is frozen when you retire if you are an expat. I was under the impression that this only applies if you are not in a country which has a reciprocal agreement with the UK. To date Thailand has no such reciprocal agreement, so the pension would be frozen however, it seems that the Philippines (for example) does. Does that mean that if one received the pension to the Philippines that any annual increases would be applied?
Had enough of the trolls. Going to sleep. I may be some time....
Korkenzieher wrote:A couple of comments above say that the rate is frozen when you retire if you are an expat. I was under the impression that this only applies if you are not in a country which has a reciprocal agreement with the UK. To date Thailand has no such reciprocal agreement, so the pension would be frozen however, it seems that the Philippines (for example) does. Does that mean that if one received the pension to the Philippines that any annual increases would be applied?
Regarding medical benefits, I asked my GP this question. He told me that all GP practices receive money for each patient on their list. If you have a residential address in the UK and are not registered as non resident you are entitled to full medical services. Some practices want you to deregister if you are out of the country for over a certain period of time as they say that it will free up places at that practice, bit of a nonsense really because that would also mean that you should deregister if you are not ill (i.e. do not see a doctor for the same period of time. My GP advised me to call in to see him when I am in the UK on holiday just to keep the name active.
chaspul wrote:I paid class 3 UK NI for years as an expat, this gave full retirement benifit, but not access to medical (unless emergency). Any one who is non resident for 3 months and not paying full NI, should de-register with their MD anyway as they do not qualify for NHS and the MD should not be claiming for him/her against the practice.
UK gov stopped taking these class 3 automatic payments and sent a letter saying that I no longer had to pay having contributed for more than 30 years and qualified for a full OAP allowance at the rate applicable when reaching retirenent age, there would be no rebate for more years paid.
However, If I wished to recieve death benifit I would have to make additional payments (AVCs). When I looked into this at the time the amount offered over the yearly cost of the AVC seemed a very expensive insurance policy and barely enough to cover my funeral expenses. Something like a cardboard box and tipped off the back of the IOW ferry!
Just thought, how could I recieve my death benifit? No mention of my estate in the letter.
Funeral costs are only covered by benefits in cases where either the deceased or their next of kin were/are in receipt of certain qualifying benefits at the time of death. I think there is also the proviso that the death occurs before state pension age. Windows benefits have gone as well.
