Brand new mortgage - and now the MF challenge begins

SammyD_2

But doesn't the NZ reciprocal arrangement only apply if you qualify for NZ super - ie had the necessary residency after age 50? And you need to be resident in NZ to actually apply for it in the first place. If you are resident in the UK, I don't think you can apply in NZ, although once eligible, you can transfer. But you have probably looked into it more than I have!

kunekune

It's more that we get credits for the time we were there, I think: basically, whichever country we end up in, we get their pension, but if we're retiring in the UK, we're not penalised for not paying NI for the 20 years we were away. We'd get super in NZ if we went back there, too (though I doubt we will). I looked into it before, and we have some paperwork we'll have to do to prove where we were and when. Must get onto that.

SammyD_2

Hopefully your final salary pension will amount to more than anything you will get from either UK or NZ so it might be a minor factor anyway...

kunekune

Not if I don't get promoted at some point! It will be half what it would have been if I started paying into it at 20 something rather than 40 something. Without a promotion, which in this economic climate is unlikely, I'm already at my final salary (bar inflation increases). We were that generation that were affected by the last recession and took a long time to get permanent jobs, and then we lived in a low house price/low wage economy for 20 years and managed to never pay off a cent of our mortgage (though we ate some fantastic meals).

But all added together, provided we have no mortgage, we'll be ok. And there should be a fair few years of extra savings once this mortgage is down a bit. After all, putting on the "annoyed at Parkinson's" hat, we're not going to be going on world trips. In fact, we probably won't even be running a car, since I don't drive and don't intend to.