Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

Oldernotwiser

Might be worth mentioning that you can't make absolute comparisons based on those figures. For example, in France you still pay the French equivalent of NICs on when you're retired - 11% I believe.

Oldernotwiser

droopsnout wrote: »

Draw your own conclusions.

Using these figures, the UK basic pension of £90 is 15% of average earnings, making average earnings in the UK over £31,000. Is this actually the case and how many people only get the minimum pension, I wonder?

droopsnout

Parisien wrote: »

Droopsnout........

"To return to the point, though, the UK State pension IS a pittance. In fact, I'd go much further and say that it is a total disgrace. I've just been searching the web and came across this comparison chart:"

Source for same?

thanks!

I pinched it from here.

droopsnout

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Might be worth mentioning that you can't make absolute comparisons based on those figures. For example, in France you still pay the French equivalent of NICs on when you're retired - 11% I believe.

I had thought that cotisations for the s!cu were 8%, but I could very easily be wrong. And those on low incomes do not necessarily have to pay such contributions, IIRC.

seven-day-weekend

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Using these figures, the UK basic pension of £90 is 15% of average earnings, making average earnings in the UK over £31,000. Is this actually the case and how many people only get the minimum pension, I wonder?

I was wondering that too ONW, it seems a very high average earnings.

I will only get a few pounds over the minimum State Pension, but I have also got a small Local Government Pension to come in 2014.

Pensioners in the UK who are only on minimum Pension and nothing else, do of course get it made up with Pension Credits to (I think) about £125 for singles and £200 for couples.

So no, no-one in the UK has to manage on the bare minimum.

droopsnout

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Using these figures, the UK basic pension of £90 is 15% of average earnings, making average earnings in the UK over £31,000. Is this actually the case and how many people only get the minimum pension, I wonder?

The graph isn't a great piece of work, but I could find almost no comparative information - and no doubt there is a good reason for that, like, it just isn't so simple. I believe that no two EU states have the same pension system for a start. But I think it is generally recognised that UK pensioners are badly done to.

My interpretation of the percentage of average earnings would put the UK pension at 17% rather than 15% - but the graph just isn't clear enough, really.

If 11% of French pension income IS paid in the equivalent of NIC, that still leaves France, not itself best placed in that table, paying approx 40% of average national earnings. That, by any measurement, is surely a heck of a lot better than 15/17%!

Even with all the doubts, the low pension payments in the UK are pretty indefensible, I think.

Every country has a budget, and what you spend your cash on is a question of priorities. The UK spends a fortune on Iraq, Aghanistan, etc., rather than on pensions, health, schools, transport systems, care for the elderly, university fees, energy production and all the other things that might benefit from investment properly applied and administered. (Please note those riders!)

I might have different priorities. The Netherlands certainly do seem to have made different choices.

Oldernotwiser

droopsnout wrote: »

I had thought that cotisations for the s!cu were 8%, but I could very easily be wrong. And those on low incomes do not necessarily have to pay such contributions, IIRC.

Don't worry, it could well be me! However, the general point of comparing like for like remains.

Oldernotwiser

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I was wondering that too ONW, it seems a very high average earnings.

I will only get a few pounds over the minimum State Pension, but I have also got a small Local Government Pension to come in 2014.

Pensioners in the UK who are only on minimum Pension and nothing else, do of course get it made up with Pension Credits to (I think) about £125 for singles and £200 for couples.

So no, no-one in the UK has to manage on the bare minimum.

Even forgetting about Pension Credits, many people have additional pension sums under SERPS and the second pension (?) scheme.

As an afterthought; how in heaven's name does the Dutch government afford to pay its pensioners the equivalent sum to the average wage? Does this mean that if you earn less than the average that your income goes UP when you retire? Surely not!

Oldernotwiser

droopsnout wrote: »

Every country has a budget, and what you spend your cash on is a question of priorities. The UK spends a fortune on Iraq, Aghanistan, etc., rather than on pensions, health, schools, transport systems, care for the elderly, university fees, energy production and all the other things that might benefit from investment properly applied and administered. (Please note those riders!)

I don't disagree with much of what you've written but just wanted to point out that the UK government still pays out an enormous amount for university fees!

droopsnout

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Don't worry, it could well be me! However, the general point of comparing like for like remains.

Indeed. But it seems virtually impossible so to do. We can only work on the info available.