How can i benefit from pension if i work only few years in UK

Daniel87

I am a 29 years old Romanian, and i am not sure for how long i will stay to work in UK, i understand you need to need minimum years to benefit from pension.
If i will work here for let's say 5 years i pay for basic state pension and nest, what happens with money from the pot pensio nest and basic state if i stop working?
can i get this money out early?
i will get any of this money when i have the required pension age?
I am thinking to stop working and find a way to invest my money that i collect in this 5 years

Tealblue

Depends where you go next.

State pension: some countries have 'reciprocal agreements' where contributions to one social security system can be taken into account if you are living in another country when you reach retirement.

NEST: the money will remain invested and you'll be able to access it at a later date (minimum age currently 55, likely to be at least 57 by the time you get there!). Make sure NEST has contact information for you if you change your e-mail or physical address. Alternatively, you may be able to transfer the NEST savings to a pension scheme in another country.

nigelbb

If you leave the UK you can continue paying voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions which cost about £150 each year & will buy you a pension of about £250/year index-linked. It's a fantastically good investment. There is a member of this forum who worked in the UK for about five years & paid voluntary Class 2 NI for the next 30 years. For an outlay of about £4,500 over 30 years they now at age 66 receive a full pension of over £9,000/year & will continue to receive that amount every year for as long as they live. On average they should live over 20 years so will in total receive almost £200,000 for their investment of £4,500.

NottinghamKnight

nigelbb said:

If you leave the UK you can continue paying voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions which cost about £150 each year & will buy you a pension of about £250/year index-linked. It's a fantastically good investment. There is a member of this forum who worked in the UK for about five years & paid voluntary Class 2 NI for the next 30 years. For an outlay of about £4,500 over 30 years they now at age 66 receive a full pension of over £9,000/year & will continue to receive that amount every year for as long as they live. On average they should live over 20 years so will in total receive almost £200,000 for their investment of £4,500.

But a terrible deal for the uk taxpayer.

Dox

nigelbb said:

If you leave the UK you can continue paying voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions which cost about £150 each year & will buy you a pension of about £250/year index-linked. It's a fantastically good investment. There is a member of this forum who worked in the UK for about five years & paid voluntary Class 2 NI for the next 30 years. For an outlay of about £4,500 over 30 years they now at age 66 receive a full pension of over £9,000/year & will continue to receive that amount every year for as long as they live. On average they should live over 20 years so will in total receive almost £200,000 for their investment of £4,500.

Hardly a situation which is likely to be around when OP reaches his UK state pension age...and he would need to meet certain conditions including being self-employed (doesn't sound as if he is):

If you’re self-employed

You don’t need to pay Class 2 National Insurance, but you can carry on paying it if you want to protect your State Pension and benefit entitlement, as long as you meet certain conditions. Contact HMRC to find out if you’re eligible.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-if-you-go-abroad

gary83

Dox said:

nigelbb said:

If you leave the UK you can continue paying voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions which cost about £150 each year & will buy you a pension of about £250/year index-linked. It's a fantastically good investment. There is a member of this forum who worked in the UK for about five years & paid voluntary Class 2 NI for the next 30 years. For an outlay of about £4,500 over 30 years they now at age 66 receive a full pension of over £9,000/year & will continue to receive that amount every year for as long as they live. On average they should live over 20 years so will in total receive almost £200,000 for their investment of £4,500.

Hardly a situation which is likely to be around when OP reaches his UK state pension age...and he would need to meet certain conditions including being self-employed (doesn't sound as if he is):

If you’re self-employed

You don’t need to pay Class 2 National Insurance, but you can carry on paying it if you want to protect your State Pension and benefit entitlement, as long as you meet certain conditions. Contact HMRC to find out if you’re eligible.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-if-you-go-abroad

I don’t think you need to be self employed to voluntarily pay NI from abroad, I think you can pay class 2 if you’re working overseas and class 3 if you’re not:

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

nigelbb

Dox said:

nigelbb said:

If you leave the UK you can continue paying voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions which cost about £150 each year & will buy you a pension of about £250/year index-linked. It's a fantastically good investment. There is a member of this forum who worked in the UK for about five years & paid voluntary Class 2 NI for the next 30 years. For an outlay of about £4,500 over 30 years they now at age 66 receive a full pension of over £9,000/year & will continue to receive that amount every year for as long as they live. On average they should live over 20 years so will in total receive almost £200,000 for their investment of £4,500.

Hardly a situation which is likely to be around when OP reaches his UK state pension age...and he would need to meet certain conditions including being self-employed (doesn't sound as if he is):

If you’re self-employed

You don’t need to pay Class 2 National Insurance, but you can carry on paying it if you want to protect your State Pension and benefit entitlement, as long as you meet certain conditions. Contact HMRC to find out if you’re eligible.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-if-you-go-abroad

You can pay voluntary Class 2 contributions if you are employed or self-employed while abroad provided you worked & contributed for the three years before you left the UK. Full details in the HMRC leaflet NI38 "Social Security abroad" https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832814/NI38.pdf

Even paying 30 years of Class 3 NI contributions at around £15/week instead of £3/week still buys a total pension of nearly £200,000 for about £22,500.

Paying voluntary NI contributions is the best investment the OP could possibly make.