UK Pensions - 04 OR 13 Weekly Payments?

[anchadian]

For the past few years, I have been receiving 4 weekly payments and am considering changing to 13 weekly.  In the month of July this year, I will receive two 4 weekly payments and this is when I may start the 13 weekly payments.

 

I would guess that most pensioners here are on a 4 weekly regular payments cycle as apposed to 13 weeks

 

The only advantage is of course you get paid a further one week and the disadvantages are that you would not receive any UK pension for 13 weeks and at that time you may get an unfavourable exchange rate.  

 

Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by anchadian

[theoldgit]

Let's turn the question around, what do you see as the benefit of waiting thirteen weeks for your pension as opposed to four?

 

Whichever way you choose receive your weekly pension, after four weeks or thirteen, you still get the same amount over a year, you certainly don't get any extra weeks.

 

Mine is paid into my offshore account every four weeks, it stays there and I usually draw it when I'm in the UK, use it to pay bills there, or transfer here should I need to.

 

A mate of mine in the UK, who's not short of a bob or two and lives in a converted oasthouse in Kent, goes to the Post Office every week and draws his pension in cash, because he can. 

[OJAS]

I have opted for the 4-week cycle on the grounds that this is the closest thing to the calendar month cycle upon which I am paid my occupational pension and receive rental income on my UK property. Personally I would much prefer to have been able to receive my State Pension on a calendar month basis as well, and am mystified as to why DWP do not offer this option.

 

Something which you might need to bear in mind - particularly if you are required to submit tax returns to HMRC as a non-resident landlord as I have to do - is the situation with which I am faced in the current 2018-19 tax year, when I shall be receiving 14 (instead of 13) State Pension payments, the first being made on 6 April 2018 and the final one on 5 April 2019. Had I opted for a 13-week cycle instead, this could instead have translated into 5 payments (instead of 4) for the current tax year – which, in turn, would have had the effect of disproportionately increasing the amount of my “on account” tax payments to HMRC for the following (2019-20) tax year. Even though the excess would eventually have been offset against my actual liability for that tax year, I could have been faced with temporary cash-flow problems in the meantime.
 

[evadgib]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-saves-public-24m-by-stopping-fraudsters

[OJAS]

17 hours ago, evadgib said:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-saves-public-24m-by-stopping-fraudsters

We're probably, in effect, paying premium rates to call HMRC on their legitimate 0300 numbers from Thailand in any case! 

[evadgib]

https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing