Mike Teavee

8 minutes ago, nauseus said:

Probably, especially if Carney keeps talking it down.

Transferwise are currently offering 38.32 on 10,000 GBP (38.18 on 1,000)...

Sigh, looks like it will be money from my Singapore account again this quarter (Though that's down to 22.37 for s$10,000 SGD, I don't think I've ever had to transfer or change in country below 23.00)

Thai Baht really is strong at the moment ???? 

21 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You, and no one else has answered the fundamental question of what started it all. Are you saying it always was, because that is illogical. Everything begins and ends.

 

From experimentation, observation and evidence.

That is only of what exists. You don't explain how there was anything to exist in the first place.

 

You would still need to prove such a source was the "God" you conceive.

"Proving" that which is based on faith is impossible. Faith is a belief in the unprovable.

Till science can explain how matter came into existence, which it can't, I'll have faith in a higher power. No human can explain how matter came into being from absolute nothing.

 

Until then, you're simply substituting the premise for the conclusion.

I believe what I believe because there is no proof that I'm wrong, and it is the best explanation I have.

To believe that life the universe and everything just "happened" all by itself, is illogical, IMO.

So if God created the Universe, who created God? Or has he/she/it just always existed... (as you say, that would be illogical because everything begins & ends) 

On 6/27/2019 at 4:21 AM, blackcab said:

How far back can you top up partially paid or wholly unpaid years?

6 Previous Tax Years then you can carry on making AVCs up to retirement age.

Unfortunately they stopped the payment at Class 2 rates for expats this year so it's the full Class 3 I'm afraid ???? 

Don't you think there's something sad (or maybe shambolic) that it's likely to come down to a choice between Johnson & Gove, AKA the 2 guys who lost out to Theresa May in the last party Leader contest.

If she was the "Best Man" then, just how bad are either of these 2 going to be.

11 hours ago, mikosan said:

I am most grateful for your very helpful response.  I am also somewhat relieved.  Regards.

You might want to consider making 1 more years payment to take it up to the full 35 years.

It will cost about £780 but will give you an extra £250 pa so will for itself in 3 years or so

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It is almost certainly because you were contracted out for some of your working life. 

 

There has has been some significant miss information posted in this thread. Some is completely false.

 

you need 35 years of full contributions for a full pension. Which years they are is not relevant.

 

Contracted out years are not the same so should be disregarded.

 

Class 2 years are incredibly good value for money.

Class 3 years are extremely good value for money.

 

You would have to be a genius level investor to get a better return than Class 3, and a super genius to beat Class 2.

 

 

If that was the case then I'd only have a few years contributions but as you can see from the OP I have 35 years, but only 32 of these are counting to my pension, which when I look at my working history...

Summary 

... Doesn't tally one way or the other... 

Will try to find the time to call them week after next to get my 2017-18 sorted and find out exactly why I don't have 35 years (If the  top-ups count) or 29 years (if they don't at all) or how the bl@@dy hell they get it to be 32 years :s 

Maybe the years you're contracted out apply pro-rata (e.g. 10 years of contracted out is work 8 years of full contributions) Who knows :s 

8 hours ago, sandrabbit said:

don't bother catching up, you don't know what will happen in the future as it's the worst pension in the western world. I was advised by an accountant not to bother as you will be pro rata in terms of payments. think about where did your earnings related go?

I disagree... I managed to pay most of my shortfall at Class-2 so I only need to receive a pension for 8 months before I'm in profit, even at Class-3 Rates, I make it approx 3 years (each years catch-up is worth approx 250GBP pa, current yearly rate is approx 780GBP).

Not sure what you mean by thinking about where my earnings related went, if you mean my private pension, most (20 years) is in a fInal salary scheme so I know this pensions (kicks in at 60) will reduce when I start receiving the State Pension, but only by 20/35ths so it (on paper, currently) is still worth doing to receive the additional 15/35ths)

I do agree that fck knows what the future holds for UK Pensions, can't do anything but try to put yourself in the best possible place.

8 hours ago, topt said:

A lot of people have been trying but probably unlikely.

Best of luck. 

From the ThisIsMoney article mentioned above, it looks like a lot of people are having more success (there's even mention of it being automatically refunded).

I need to speak to them anyway about the 2017-18 shortfall so no harm in asking... I know the shortfall will be because of 50p that I miscalculated when I paid up 7 years worth, they said they'd write off - Silly me thinking HMRC will let you get anyway with anything though we both agreed it was going to cost them more to process it than they would receive.

14 minutes ago, potless said:

Go onto "www.thisismoney.co.uk" at the top of the page you should find a heading titled "pensions" Click on that. There are a variety of articles that may help, one in particular named "Saver buys 2500 pounds of top- ups that count 'towards' but don't improve his state pension.

Thanks... it probably was "ThisIsMoney" I saw it on but for some reason thought it was MoneySupermarket... 

Hi guys,

Apologies if this has been asked/answered before, I did do a search but couldn't find anything relevant so here goes.

in 2017 I caught up on 6 years (7 if I included that Tax year) NI Contributions at Class-2 rate (on the basis I'm an Expat) and now have the full 35 years contributions (I'll actually have 37 once I sort out 2017-18 (50p mistake on my part) & 2018-19 are applied).

so I now wan't to stop paying (especially as it's now gone up to Tier-3 rates for Expats), when I look at my Pension Forecast it states I need to pay another 6 years (presumably 4 once 2017-18 & 2018-19 are sorted) to reach the full amount 

Does anybody know if this Is because I caught up on 2010-11. 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 & 2015-16 after the April 2016 re-baseline of entitlements & so I've wasted ~£950 as these won't count (In which case, does anybody know if I can reclaim this, I'm sure I saw a MoneyMarket article on something similar but can't find it again now)..

Thanks

MTV 

41 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

It's only worth buying years after 2016 anyway, because of the new pension rules.

So if you're 60 now, buy the past 3 years, then the next 6 years.

That's worth 40 pounds a week in pension payments.

I'm trying to confirm this as in 2017 I backdated 7 years (6 years + 2017 itself) back to 2010/2011... and my NI Contribution Record now says I have 35 years worth, but my pension forecast says I need to contribute another 6 years... 

I did see an article on MoneySupermarket that suggested people (me) had been misled, I'll post the question in the UK Pensions thread where there are likely to be more people who have more knowledge of the subject (and might be able to advise whether I can get my cash back).

Back to Europe, the download  that I mentioned previously is very good & can be downloaded by filling any old information into the download form, don't even need a valid email address as it just lets you download rather than emailing you a link... 

Site is https://www.retiringtoeurope.com/ they have a Brexit guide on there as well but haven't had chance to look at this.

59 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Thanks for those corrections to my misunderstanding about voluntary NI contributions.  I guess I need to get a projected pension statement, which firstly means I need to be reminded of my NI number, since I forgot it many years ago....

If you don't have it on previous correspondence from HRMC (P45, P60 etc...) you can request HMRC to remind you off it... https://www.gov.uk/lost-national-insurance-number 

11 hours ago, simon43 said:

That's what the UK government NI website said for expat class 3 voluntary contributions..

 

"You can easily make up any gaps in your payment record of National Insurance contributions for the last six tax year".

You can top up the previous 6 years NI payments then continue to pay them going forward.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's a shame you didn't do this a couple of months back as Expat's paid at Class-2 rates until April 2019 (Below are the top-ups I made in 2017)...

BUT even at Class-3 rates, each years "Top-up" gets you an additional 1/35th of the pension which at £168.60pw works out to be an additional £250 pa, Class-3 contributions are £780 so it will only take a little over 3 years before you net-benefit. 

14 minutes ago, bojo said:

My original post mentions a budget of approx 12K monthly...a quick google and View talay is way beyond my budget...cheers

Holland Tulip (http://www.hollandtulip-resort.com/) would seem to fit your requirements, it's 13K pm for a 3 month contract but I'm sure they would be open to listening to offers if they have availability (can't hurt to ask).

16 minutes ago, Brer said:

Just to get things right, when I arrive back in Thailand on a new 12month O/A visa next week, I will stay in a hotel in Nong Khai city the first night and they always want my passport so I presume they are reporting. So the next morning do I go with the missus to immigration and get her to do a TM30 within 24 hours to notify I will be staying with her even though we aren’t home?

We live in Nong Khai province but 85kms from the immigration office and like to travel and stay overnight in Nong Khai city at least once a month, so if the hotel does a TM30 for that stay does the missus have to do another TM30 when we return home?

Just get the Missus to book/check-in the hotel, then the hotel won't file a TM30 for you

Firstly... why doesn't this (& a couple of the other larger threads) appear in the "Content I've Posted in" Stream so I can follow it, always have to remember to search for the latest news... 

Secondly, why didn't anybody tell me (you have PM guys!!!) that Elementary (S7) was back... One of my favourite TV series of all times has been back for almost 1 month (I really thought the ending on S6 was intended to kill the series off so haven't been looking out for it)!

Bright side is I have 4 episodes to binge watch (can't see me making it out tonight)

11 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Not only are you drinking it, you're purchasing it direct from immigration. I already made it clear that the 2014 crackdown and official comment was indicative of the direction they were moving in, not the cause. But as an example of the xenophobia and paranoia that exists within their ranks it serves as a good example.

 

It's quite true, immigration now have a perception that people have been abusing short term visas to stay here long term, but they didn't used to see it that way. There's even been comments on here recently where individual officers have apologised for all the hoops that have to be jumped through now, and they're not blaming the foreigners for it, they're blaming the generals. It baffles me that people are propagating and excusing this nonsense on their behalf. 

SO I'm drinking Kool Aid because I believe that Immigration have a perception that people are using Tourist/VE visas for long term stay, but you think that 'It's quite true, immigration now have a perception that people have been abusing short term visas to stay here long term" - Want me to pass you a cup?  We're both agreed that they didn't use to see it that way so I'm not even sure what we're debating anymore... 

I have no idea how Immigration can have a perception that people are abusing short term visas BUT are not blaming it on foreigners :s... It must be all those pesky Thais that have them?

Think this has gone on for too long now... you drink your flavour of Kool-Aid, I'm opening a bottle of Vino take the taste away ????

45 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

None of these were considered abuse until quite recently and the Thai authorities were quite happy about people staying long term using these options - it wasn't uncommon for an immigration officer to give advice on how to navigate the system. I remember one time receiving a compliment from immigration when extending a visa, for having a nice tidy set of back to back tourist visas over a long period with no overstays. I completely reject the suggestion that back then I or anyone else abused tourist visas by living on them long term, when those were the prevailing norms of the day. 

 

Every year we're seeing new classes of criminals that never previously existed, whipped up out of thin air by the authorities and their apologists - people who were on the right side of the system and following the rules before they weren't. At this rate I'm guessing it won't be long before we start hearing the phrase TM30 abusers bandied about. 

We're agreed that they were once happy for people to visit many times & even stay long term on tourist visas/VE, but are not nowadays. The difference is, I believe it's because of a perception that too many people are abusing them to Live in the country & you believe it's because 1 family member of 1 senior IO officer got deported from Korea... Oh & apparently I'm the one drinking the Kool Aid ???? 

FWIW I believe I am a tourist in Thailand (despite having a condo & bank account there) but there is no hard & firm rules about what constitutes a "Tourist", so for the 1st time last year I got a Non-O ME despite knowing I would never spend more than 15-20 days on any 1 visit - You may have enjoyed a conversation many years ago with an IO at DM about your many entries to Thailand, but in the recent climate, I didn't & once was enough to convince me I needed to do something different about it (I travel for work & sometimes need to get a Visa for places that wouldn't look kindly on me being denied entry into a country (IIRC it's one of the questions on my SG EP renewal form) or having a "Naughty" stamp in my passport)

The "Rules" (Including TM30) have always been there, it's the application of the rules that hasn't, in the past 3 or so years (Maybe because of the Junta) they have noticeably been applied more rigorously & it only seems to be going one way, hence the OP is (and many others are) having problems. 

3 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

Your history synopsis suggests you don't have much history here yourself. Every example you give is recent (the past five years), during which time there's been an observable change in attitude towards foreigners - my post explains why that might be so. 

 

In case you'd forgotten, you were talking about visa exempt entry abuse. The deportations were entirely to do with people on visa exempt entries, and predated the subsequent crackdown - the chief's comments at the time were indicative of the direction they were moving in. At that time the nationalities singled out were Korea, Russia and Vietnam but this widened out to include every nationality. In fact there's been a general move to restrict people on back to back visa exempt entries since around 2006, but using them was hardly "abuse" as it was always one of the acceptable methods to immigration, until they decided it wasn't.

You're correct, I only have 11 years of visiting Thailand (& only spend 1/3rd of my time there now) but do remember when I 1st visited in 2008 I could come & go as often as I liked (Once visited on 5 separate occasions in a 4 week period) with no concerns, nowadays there are reports of FIFO workers who have used VE for years having to get a Visa to spend their down time in-country as do people like myself who spend 5 days in, 10 days out.

Twisting the point somewhat, it was clear that the VE abuse I was referring to was people using them to effectively live in Thailand - Pretty sure the Korean deportations you were talking about was mostly Thai's visiting on a "holiday pass" & working (it doesn't take too much imagination to think that not only were they working illegally, but some were doing illegal work - i.e. "Massage" parlours etc...) 

IMHO, using VEs to Live in country, in a pattern that went:-

• 30 days VE,
• 30 day extension
• 1 (maybe 2) day border run
• Rinse & repeat

... is Abuse & I believe that's why they cracked down on it. 

Same with ED VIsas for people who weren't going to school, METV Visas for people who were using them back to back to live in-country Non-Os without the proper finances & now even forcing Non-OAs to have medical insurance.

4 hours ago, FredGallaher said:

Thai ask many questions that I would never ask in the west.  Questions like, "How old are you?" How much money do you have?" , "How much do you weigh?" etc. The call you fat, short, etc. They don't mean any insult at all. If I don't want to answer I don't or make something up like "I'm 50+ or older than you, so you can call me "pee".

If they ask about money, I reply indirectly like, It's too much for me but not enough for her".

BTW When people ask where are you going or where have you been, it not being nosey. It means they care. We ask "How are you?" Which is a way to say I care about you.

Or the classic one...  "Have you Eaten"? or "Have you taken your Lunch/Dinner" (used to be more or less the 1st thing I'd be greeted with in the Philippines) 

5 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

Too bad people are drinking the kool aid on all this. It's absurd to claim that visa runners and long term stayers on tourist visas were breaking any rules that existed at the time and are somehow responsible for the current crusade, which has more to do with paranoia, tit for tat measures and general xenophobia. 

 

"They can deport us, we can do the same to them" were the comments of the immigration chief back in 2014, after it was reported that 8000 Thais were deported from South Korea, while only 20 South Koreans were sent back the other way. A Thai friend told me at the time that the chief was particularly irked since one of his family members was among those ejected. Since then, efforts have continued apace to demonise those using visa exempt entries (and more recently tourist visas and most other categories). This escalated significantly after 2015 when it was revealed that one of the Erawan bombers had paid his way in at the border. Indeed, the current TM30 video from immigration goes as far as to explain why it's necessary to enforce the law on reporting any temporary address changes within 24 hours - to ensure that we're not sat at home assembling bombs! 

So them specifically putting restrictions in place like only 2 land boarder crossings a year & closer scrutiny on anybody who has more than 6 entries per year (I'm in & out approx 20 times a year) had nothing to do with the perceived abuse of the VE system?

History shows they started on People (allegedly) abusing the ED Visa, then changed the ME TV Visa to make it harder to get, then clamped down on Visa Exempts and have now clamped down on Non-O & Non-OA visas... 

Q) What does deporting people have to do with it, we're talking about people being denied entry - Some mind blowing Kool-Aid you're sipping on there partner...