I have left the UK, what happens to my state pension

TheLearner2008

I have left the UK so I have a couple of questions related to what happens now?

1. Will I still get a state pension when I retire?
2. Should I continue to pay into the state pension even though I don't live in the UK and how does it work?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

1.  Not when you "retire" no.  You will get any State Pension due from your State Pension age (probably 67 or 68). 

2.  Have you checked your State Pension forecast (in full) on gov.uk?  Unless you have done that it's impossible for you to know if making further contributions is worthwhile or not.

Do you know about the lack of inflation increases for State Pension for residents of some countries?

bostonerimus

Where are you moving? If you don't have sufficient NICs for a full state pension definitely apply to HMRC to pay voluntary NICs as Class 2 or Class 3 are not that expensive....Class 2 is particularly good value for money. Read this

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/947544/NI38_12_20.pdf

Once you have filled out the forms and set things up, HMRC will send you a bill each year which you can pay by cheque if you have a UK bank account or by wire transfer.  Four months before you reach SP age you apply for your SP, give HMRC your bank details and they will deposit it directly to most countries.

nigelbb

Where have you moved to? More importantly where will you be living when you are UK state pension age? If it's one of a random list of countries you will get no yearly increases once you start drawing your pension eg index linked pension if you live in Austria but not if you live in Australia likewise USA but not Canada etc

TheLearner2008

nigelbb said:

Where have you moved to?

Switzerland. I haven’t decided where to retire but most likely Spain, Switzerland or South Africa 

Albermarle

TheLearner2008 said:

nigelbb said:

Where have you moved to?

Switzerland. I haven’t decided where to retire but most likely Spain, Switzerland or South Africa 

I imagine your pension will go further in Spain and South Africa, than Switzerland.

nigelbb

Albermarle said:

TheLearner2008 said:

nigelbb said:

Where have you moved to?

Switzerland. I haven’t decided where to retire but most likely Spain, Switzerland or South Africa 

I imagine your pension will go further in Spain and South Africa, than Switzerland.

On the other hand if you live in South Africa while drawing your UK state pension you will receive no annual increase whereas you will in both Spain & Switzerland.

[Deleted User]

TheLearner2008 said:

nigelbb said:

Where have you moved to?

Switzerland. I haven’t decided where to retire but most likely Spain, Switzerland or South Africa 

Like this selection. Difficult choice though. They are so damn similar. All start with “S”.

[Deleted User]

nigelbb said:

Albermarle said:

TheLearner2008 said:

nigelbb said:

Where have you moved to?

Switzerland. I haven’t decided where to retire but most likely Spain, Switzerland or South Africa 

I imagine your pension will go further in Spain and South Africa, than Switzerland.

On the other hand if you live in South Africa while drawing your UK state pension you will receive no annual increase whereas you will in both Spain & Switzerland.

We have a lot of immigrants from  South Africa.  Describing amazing security systems in their homes and how they had to teach teen daughters to be handy with guns. 

TheLearner2008

Yeah it’s most likely going to be Sitges, Spain 

TheLearner2008

nigelbb said:

Albermarle said:

TheLearner2008 said:

nigelbb said:

Where have you moved to?

Switzerland. I haven’t decided where to retire but most likely Spain, Switzerland or South Africa 

I imagine your pension will go further in Spain and South Africa, than Switzerland.

On the other hand if you live in South Africa while drawing your UK state pension you will receive no annual increase whereas you will in both Spain & Switzerland.

Silly question, but are you saying the state pension (currently around GBP200 per week max) increases every year?