German Pension

Chris_V

I was resident & worked in Germany from 1992 -1995. I want to find out what my pension options are and how I progress these. Can anybody advise how I find out?
Refund?
Transfer to UK?
Take pension....how do they know where I am?


Thanks

xylophone

http://www.toytowngermany.com/wiki/German_state_pensions https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

might help?

FatherAbraham

Chris_V wrote: »

I was resident & worked in Germany from 1992 -1995. I want to find out what my pension options are and how I progress these. Can anybody advise how I find out?
Refund?
Transfer to UK?
Take pension....how do they know where I am?

German state pension will combine with UK state pension according to EU rules. That's too complicated to explain right now, but you should be able to search online to get an idea of the concepts. If you get nowhere, then come back on this thread and let us know.

You have no options AFAIK -- you'll just need to claim your pension when it becomes payable.

State pensions do not transfer or refund, especially under EU social security rules.

Sorry, I don't know anything specific about Germany, just about EU pension-related social-security rules, so I can't advise where to get in touch with.

In an ideal world, the UK's DWP would be able to provide you with a combined pensions forecast -- that is definitely not the case though.

One point to watch out for: if your German pension commences before your UK one does, you need to make a claim via the International unit of the DWP proactively -- DWP won't contact you until 6 months before your UK commencement. Some EU state pensions (Denmark springs to mind) do not pay retrospective claims -- so failure to claim promptly results in irrevocable financial loss.

Intra-EU social security rules are generally a good thing for people like you, but getting a combined picture of one's pension position requires a lot of work.

Warmest regards,
FA

kidmugsy

A retired French friend who worked in England for many years, and still lives here, wanted to claim his French state pension. It took him a year of draining effort to get it: he even had to pull some strings. His experience with our pension service was infinitely preferable.

mc4924

My understanding is that you don't get one single pension that combines the UK and German pension.
You will get two pensions, one from Germany and one from UK, each based on your contributions in that country.

The pension authority in the EU country where you live when you retire (for instance DWP in UK) should do the paperwork for you for all EU countries where you have contributions.

The only thing that you can combine together is the number of years of contributions. For instance, I have 11 years of contributions in Italy, where there is a minimum of 20 years required to get a pension.
My years of work in UK will be summed and, as I have more than 9 years in UK, so more tahn 20 in total, I will be able to get an italian pension (pro rata for the 11 years).

I cannot post a link as I am a new poster, but you can search on:
europa dot eu
where there is some clear explanation about this.

jennifernil

Yes, when it comes time to claim your pension, if you are in UK, you fill in the form and tell them you also worked abroad. Give them any details you have to help them track down your entitlement.

DWP will find your German pension and possibly the Germans will send you a claim form. You will only get the German part once you reach their pensionable age.

Usually they will pay you from Germany, so you will need to check the most cost effective way of receiving this money.

If it is like my OH's pension from abroad, it will be paid gross, and will be taxable here.

When you declare it here, you are allowed to deduct 10% from it before being taxed on it here.

FatherAbraham

mc4924 wrote: »

For instance, I have 11 years of contributions in Italy, where there is a minimum of 20 years required to get a pension.

If you can tell me how to get a pension forecast for my Italian state pension, I would be eternally grateful.

All I've ever managed to get out of INPS since leaving 17 years ago is a photocopied confirmation of all my contributions, and half of the two-part access code for the online pension-forecast system, sent by text.

I'm not even sure what my pension commencement age is, although I found an intriguing calculator on the Corriere della Sera website today, which implies that one's choice of pension commencement age has a big impact on the level of payment: http://www.corriere.it/economia/calcolo_pensione/

Warmest regards,
FA

Marine_life

Its explained here:

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire/state-pension-claims-and-calculation/index_en.htm

mc4924

If you can tell me how to get a pension forecast for my Italian state pension, I would be eternally grateful.

I'm not even sure what my pension commencement age is

Well I'm fifty and I understand that I will get my italian pension at 68 and 5 months.

Regarding how much money that will be, at the INPS website you can find (official) information on how to compute it, using your record of contribution.
From the start page, click on 'la pensione' on the left and then 'Calcolo della pensione'
(You probably need to be fluent in italian 'legalese' to fully get that).

You can indeed get online access to your INPS record with all your contributions (needed to compute the above). I got mine a while ago. They give you a PIN code in two parts, the first one is emailed, the second is sent via post.