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

Dazed_and_C0nfused

TheLearner2008 said:

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?

Under the existing legislation yes.

But not for some overseas residents.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53082530

Albermarle

TheLearner2008 said:

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?

Suggest you google 'Triple Lock' . It is the current formula used to calculate the annual increase.
It is controversial politically, as it was brought in essentially to buy pensioner votes , but is rather over generous in some peoples opinion. In fact last year the government did not implement it fully

Suhusa

If you work in Switzerland it'll be the responsibility of the Swiss pension system to apply for UK state pension on your behalf - so you don't have to apply for UK state pension separately. The two pension systems will perform two calculations - one just using their own data and the other taking the years (but not the contributions) of the other pension system into account. That means for example if you only have 9 UK years you can use your Swiss years to lift your pension over the 10 year minimum requirement.

As said above, it nevertheless does pay to pay Class 2 contributions because you'll have your payments recouped within a year (!) of receiving your pension. I do and if all goes well I expect to get a full UK state pension on top of my German pension, for what to me is now very little money.

Scot_39

Looks like South Africa the odd one out on your list - with no annual increment

Over time - that makes a big difference if it's going to be a significant component of retirement income.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pensions-annual-increases-if-you-live-abroad/countries-where-we-pay-an-annual-increase-in-the-state-pension

xylophone

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

Yes indeed, at home and in some foreign countries.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad/rates-of-state-pension

However, if you retire to certain countries ( including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa) no increase will be paid.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01457/

pinnks

Suhusa said:

If you work in Switzerland it'll be the responsibility of the Swiss pension system to apply for UK state pension on your behalf - so you don't have to apply for UK state pension separately. The two pension systems will perform two calculations - one just using their own data and the other taking the years (but not the contributions) of the other pension system into account. That means for example if you only have 9 UK years you can use your Swiss years to lift your pension over the 10 year minimum requirement.

As said above, it nevertheless does pay to pay Class 2 contributions because you'll have your payments recouped within a year (!) of receiving your pension. I do and if all goes well I expect to get a full UK state pension on top of my German pension, for what to me is now very little money.

That is not quite how it works.  the EU, Switzerland and a few other counties, you apply for your pensions from other countries via the pension authority in your country of residence.  They gather the necessary information from you and forward it to the other country.  After that, the other country's pension authority corresponds directly with you.

The better link to the NI38 is Social Security abroad: NI38 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) as the pdf linked to above may not be completely up-to-date.  This link includes a form CF83.  You need to complete and send that to HMRC, selecting Class 2 if you think you qualify, based on your reading of NI38.  If you want to fill any back years, tick box 25 and don't complete the bank details as they are for direct debit from UK accounts going forward.  As you will probably not have (or soon not have) a UK bank account, HMRC will send you a bill each year.

Add a covering letter saying you will settle for Class 3 if Class 2 is not available.

You should also note that unless you moved before 31 December 2020, then you will not be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement but will be covered for what could be only 15 years (unlikely, I guess, that it will not be extended) by means of the social security part of the Christmas Eve Trade Coordination Agreement.  Worth investigating before you take the leap...
  

TheLearner2008

pinnks said:

Suhusa said:

If you work in Switzerland it'll be the responsibility of the Swiss pension system to apply for UK state pension on your behalf - so you don't have to apply for UK state pension separately. The two pension systems will perform two calculations - one just using their own data and the other taking the years (but not the contributions) of the other pension system into account. That means for example if you only have 9 UK years you can use your Swiss years to lift your pension over the 10 year minimum requirement.

As said above, it nevertheless does pay to pay Class 2 contributions because you'll have your payments recouped within a year (!) of receiving your pension. I do and if all goes well I expect to get a full UK state pension on top of my German pension, for what to me is now very little money.

That is not quite how it works.  the EU, Switzerland and a few other counties, you apply for your pensions from other countries via the pension authority in your country of residence.  They gather the necessary information from you and forward it to the other country.  After that, the other country's pension authority corresponds directly with you.

The better link to the NI38 is Social Security abroad: NI38 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) as the pdf linked to above may not be completely up-to-date.  This link includes a form CF83.  You need to complete and send that to HMRC, selecting Class 2 if you think you qualify, based on your reading of NI38.  If you want to fill any back years, tick box 25 and don't complete the bank details as they are for direct debit from UK accounts going forward.  As you will probably not have (or soon not have) a UK bank account, HMRC will send you a bill each year.

Add a covering letter saying you will settle for Class 3 if Class 2 is not available.

You should also note that unless you moved before 31 December 2020, then you will not be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement but will be covered for what could be only 15 years (unlikely, I guess, that it will not be extended) by means of the social security part of the Christmas Eve Trade Coordination Agreement.  Worth investigating before you take the leap...
  

I am following the advice  what bostonerimus posted in 3rd post in this thread.

is voluntary contributions the same thing as what you are talking about. 

I moved before end of 2020 yes. 

scobie

On a related point I plan to retire to Thailand in a couple of years. I have a couple of properties there. 

By that time I will have a full state pension although I won’t get it until 2031. No problem. I’m not really relying on it. 

Thailand is one of those countries that doesn’t increase annually. My retirement plan will be to spend roughly half my time there and half back here. 

I’m wondering whether I can still get the annual increase if I’m deemed U.K. resident. Presumably that means a certain number of days resident in the U.K.?  And what exactly does ‘resident in the U.K.’ mean - does it mean actually physically in the U.K. or could I spend some of those resident days on holiday in Europe for example ?

elsien

UK resident means physically present for 183 days. So it wouldn’t count if you were heading off to Europe on holiday for part of those days. 

Suhusa

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdr3-statutory-residence-test-srt/guidance-note-for-statutory-residence-test-srt-rdr3

These are a series of tests for what counts as resident.