noobexpat

STFU.

You are confusing unfunded with non-contributory. Correct they cannot be changed retrospectively, the terms of your accrual to date cannot be unwound, only future accrual terms amended.

Maybe a rolling 5 years is a better measurement? No denying govt debt keeps rising, as long as it can be serviced, i don't know if its a problem ...every country the same, i imagine. Inflation apparently erodes that debt and a country can 'grow' its way out of it as i think debt is expressed against gdp. Economics not my forte though!

Not sure about diminishing ...maybe GDP is useful data for this?? Imagine oil and banks and our giant service industry has a great year - bumper corporation tax, for example. All into one big pot. As long as the books balance, the status quo can largely continue. Maybe the younger generation won't feel so entitled to state pensions and then something can change.

Their invoice by the hour is still less than mine, so all is good. The free market finds its way.

Largely irrelevant. Its just re-shuffling of government revenue. A really generous state pension could mean worse hospitals, schools and roads. Improving life expectancy has had big cost implications on these 'promise-based' state pensions.

That doesn't really make sense because it can't really be calculated. You need the holistic revenue that a country collects versus what it gives back. A fruitless task. The uk could have the best state pension on earth ...you just have to take funds from somewhere else (which gets the immigration ranters into top gear 555)

NI has multiple types of contributions, but its 10% for employees. Also the employer pays NI conts. Only a part of that is allocated towards state pensions, but as its an unfunded system, you can't just say "3 out of 10% is for state pension". Its whatever it costs and is fluid. Until people are saving real money each month, which most can't or won't ...state pension is simply viewed as the underpin to mitigate poverty in retirement. State pension has been around since 1948 and was setup for those who finished working in cotton mills, with no savings. It has some deep mentality in the UK. The level of entitlement that old folks have towards it is also quite extreme.

I'm under 50 and have accrued 80% of the max state pension. I won't even bother topping it up with voluntary contributions. Not worth my energy. Its my charitable gift to those who need it more than I.

At least the final salary method has been dropped by, i think all public sector schemes, and replaced by career average.

Many smaller employers are paying the minimum contribution into "auto-enrolment" schemes. The combined total is a measly 8% of qualifying earnings. For average folks this will not amount to much in retirement and therefore state pension can't be abolished. It has periodically been reducing in value over many years though. With 28 years until my state pension, who knows what it will look like. But luckily i don't particularly care.

Apparently not lol... Do your ears and nose get bigger as you age? Not only does cartilage grow, but earlobes also elongate from gravity, which can make ears look even larger. Our ears are 90 percent grown by age six, and our noses are almost fully grown by the time we're teens, but both can change shape and appear to enlarge as we age.

I think ears and nose continue to grow throughout your life.

Twice in 3 weeks: runny nose, sore throat, bit of a cough, feel a bit light headed. Seems to last 3 days then go. Hopefully will be good for saturday night when it is my usual beer o'clock.

Thanks for info everyone. Devils advocate then: i switch to retirement visa when i get to +50 but all the funds i remit for many years (+10) are not assessable in thailand anyway - because of the format of those funds. Benefit of LTR would be no 90 day and cheaper. Disadvantage would be structured minimum of 80k usd. Googling suggests wealthy pensioner type needs health insurance or 100k usd on deposit in thailand.

That was for me. Thanks.

Politics and americans eh? Like trying seperate fat folk from cake.

Yes i read the two links you provided, but thats the technical jargon. Not the features & benefits. The wealthy pensioner one may have been of interest when i'm over 50, but a little rigid in terms of income withdrawals and exchange rate risk (i'm in £). GBP drops and i have to withdraw more than the year before.

Thanks. Its just 95 pages long ha! For the wealthy pensioner one ...the 80k usd (equivalent) passive income is not subject to any potential thai tax?? ...do you still file a thai tax return, do you know? Wealthy Pensioners Must be at least 50 years old Yearly passive income of $80,000 (excluding income from employment) Minimum investments of $250,000 held in government bonds, foreign direct investment, and/or property in Thailand (only if the applicant’s income is between $40,000 and $80,000)

Yeh was aware of that. The wealthy pensioner/global citizen seemed even less appealing.

Good point. I'm curious to know the most obvious situation for who this benefits.

I've not heard of most of those and no doubt some are in the higher value category. I guess in 10 years we shall see how it develops.

Thanks, but i still don't understand the obvious benefit. I see 17% tax stated. So i work for a foreign company, i'm resident in thailand and i remit all that foreign earned salary to thailand. I pay a reduced tax of 17% (instead of the normal thai tax rates that would apply) ....is that right?

This is because its deemed as taxable and taxed in another country, right? But the respective DTA may have come to the same result anyway, had that been applied??

Young, not retired, elite visa. In the condo a fair bit. What are these changes you talk about? I'm enjoying thailand a lot. I will stay forever.