Claim or Delay UK pension

[churchill]

I can claim my state pension from December but will probably delay until at least until the next increase in April 2025 . 

 

I understand that for each 9 weeks you delay your pension , it increases by 1% . I think 5.8% annually . Also annual increases in April .

 

Once I start claiming the amount will be frozen .

 

Are there any calculations to show the benefits for somebody living overseas in delaying claiming the state pension ?

 

I see that it is possible to take a break from claiming the pension , perhaps this is only possible for UK residents ? but if not if you take a break is the pension then reset to the current rate ?

 

If the funds are paid directly to me in Thailand I assume that they do not have to be declared as UK income ?

 

Thanks for any views. 

[Mike Lister]

1 minute ago, churchill said:

I can claim my state pension from December but will probably delay until at least until the next increase in April 2025 . 

 

I understand that for each 9 weeks you delay your pension , it increases by 1% . I think 5.8% annually . Also annual increases in April .

 

Once I start claiming the amount will be frozen .

 

Are there any calculations to show the benefits for somebody living overseas in delaying claiming the state pension ?

 

I see that it is possible to take a break from claiming the pension , perhaps this is only possible for UK residents ? but if not if you take a break is the pension then reset to the current rate ?

 

If the funds are paid directly to me in Thailand I assume that they do not have to be declared as UK income ?

 

Thanks for any views. 

UK State Pension arises in the UK and would be taxable there, if it exceeded the UK Personal Allowance. The UK State Pension is also NOT considered to be exempt income in Thailand and may be taxable here, subject to the usual caveats.

[churchill]

7 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

UK State Pension arises in the UK and would be taxable there, if it exceeded the UK Personal Allowance. The UK State Pension is also NOT considered to be exempt income in Thailand and may be taxable here, subject to the usual caveats.

 

OK , I assume if normal tax return is done in the UK to show any tax due has been paid then it will not be taxed again in Thailand due to double tax treaty between 2 countries ...

[scubascuba3]

I haven't seen people advise to delay taking the state pension. Are you entitled to the full state pension i.e. 35+ years? if not you can top up before you start.

 

Check moneysavingexpert.com to see if they advise delaying, i doubt it

Edited June 23 by scubascuba3

[Mike Lister]

1 minute ago, churchill said:

 

OK , I assume if normal tax return is done in the UK to show any tax due has been paid then it will not be taxed again in Thailand due to double tax treaty between 2 countries ...

A lot will depend on the extent of the UK tax return, the tax bands are different between the two countries. As a base principle, the UK State pension will not be taxed again in Thailand but it is not impossible to think their might be some adjustments made as a result of the different tax bands. For example, the UK personal allowance will be ignored here and replaced by a corresponding TEDA which is very similar but not exactly the same.

[Mike Lister]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

I haven't seen people advise to delay taking the state pension. Are you entitled to the full state pension i.e. 35+ years? if not you can top up before you start.

 

Check moneysavingexpert.com to see if they advise delaying, i doubt it

The last I read on this suggested it was one of the best investments a person could make because the effective rate of return pof a delay is so high.

[daveAustin]

Would personally take it and invest (5.8% would surely be beatable low risk?) and be more mindful of time.

Also don't bet greedy Thailand in not taxing already taxed income & pensions etc! Bah humbug, grumble grumble. Would sooner pour it down the drain on rubbish 'beer'. Oh wait! 😋

[churchill]

20 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I haven't seen people advise to delay taking the state pension. Are you entitled to the full state pension i.e. 35+ years? if not you can top up before you start.

 

Check moneysavingexpert.com to see if they advise delaying, i doubt it

 

It seems to make sense to delay perhaps a year , if you do not need the funds ,  especially if there is high inflation and considering the pension will be frozen once you start to claim . 

 

Most calculations are made for those who delay and live in the UK , so are entitled to yearly increases .

 

https://www.ft.com/content/8e603ec4-0878-11e6-b6d3-746f8e9cdd33

[churchill]

20 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Would personally take it and invest (5.8% would surely be beatable low risk?) and be more mindful of time.

Also don't bet greedy Thailand in not taxing already taxed income & pensions etc! Bah humbug, grumble grumble. Would sooner pour it down the drain on rubbish 'beer'. Oh wait! 😋

 

5.8% annually but also if you claim you miss out on annual increase which maybe another 5% . So if I claim in December as I am entitled , I will miss out on annual increase due in April / So I think delay until at least April 2025 ...

[chickenslegs]

Current UK pension is 221.20 GBP (11,502 pa).

If you delay your claim by 5 months, until the annual adjustment is made, you will have lost approximately 4,800 GBP that you could have been receiving.

If the pension increase next year is, for example, 10 GBP per week you will gain 520 GBP each year until you pass. So you will break even and start to profit after about 9 years.

If the increase is 20 GBP per week, break even will be around 4.5 years.

 

I hope my maths is correct.

[scubascuba3]

53 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

The last I read on this suggested it was one of the best investments a person could make because the effective rate of return pof a delay is so high.

Not sure about that, depends, especially on health

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/should-i-defer-my-state-pension/

[hotandsticky]

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

The last I read on this suggested it was one of the best investments a person could make because the effective rate of return pof a delay is so high.

 

 

It isn't - the time taken to recover 'lost' income is almost 10 years

[Mutt Daeng]

If the DWP know you are living in Thailand, then your pension will be frozen at the rate that you were entitled to when you first became eligible to claim the pension (December for you). I know a couple of guys who did exactly what you are proposing and they didn't get the April rises that they were expecting.

Edited June 23 by Mutt Daeng

[churchill]

1 hour ago, Mutt Daeng said:

If the DWP know you are living in Thailand, then your pension will be frozen at the rate that you were entitled to when you first became eligible to claim the pension (December for you). I know a couple of guys who did exactly what you are proposing and they didn't get the April rises that they were expecting.

 

Thanks / If that is the case then no point to delay .

[NE1]

Mine was due in March , I got in touch with the DWP Jan 5th , and by early May I had heard nothing.

Telephoned them again , " sorry , the person who did your claim never signed off on it and it was not forwarded to the relevant dept. ".

We need to go through the procedure again ,

we will expedite this so you will only have to wait another 2 to 3 weeks. 

I'm still waiting .

Edited June 24 by NE1

[hotandsticky]

3 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Mine was due in March , I got in touch with the DWP Jan 5th , and by early May I had heard nothing.

Telephoned them again , " sorry , the person who did your claim never signed off on it and it was not forwarded to the relevant dept. ".

We need to go through the procedure again ,

we will expedite this so you will only have to wait another 2 to 3 weeks. 

I'm still waiting .

 

 

I suggest that you may be a little tardy in your communications.

 

Due in March (and these things are like clockwork) I would have been in touch in March - and every week since until the money was in my bank account.

[NE1]

37 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

I suggest that you may be a little tardy in your communications.

 

Due in March (and these things are like clockwork) I would have been in touch in March - and every week since until the money was in my bank account.

But they do say that there is a 3 to 4 month wait from the day you start your claim.

So my initial wait was due to that fact.

 

[hotandsticky]

7 minutes ago, NE1 said:

But they do say that there is a 3 to 4 month wait from the day you start your claim.

So my initial wait was due to that fact.

 

 

I admit, I made my claim as early as possible - fortunately did not experience the delays you have suffered. 

 

Do you have contact with IPC, Newcastle ?  They are said to be very helpful.

[Mutt Daeng]

7 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

7 hours ago, NE1 said:

But they do say that there is a 3 to 4 month wait from the day you start your claim.

So my initial wait was due to that fact.

 

 

I admit, I made my claim as early as possible - fortunately did not experience the delays you have suffered. 

 

Do you have contact with IPC, Newcastle ?  They are said to be very helpful.

I claimed my state pension 4 months before it was due to be paid.

From the Gov.uk website : https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-to-claim

Other ways to apply
Claim by phone
If you’ll reach State Pension age in the next 4 months, you can phone the Pension Service to claim.

 

[NE1]

9 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

If you’ll reach State Pension age in the next 4 months, you can phone the Pension Service to claim.

and that is what I did , and somebody their end made a cock up and dodn't enter the information to the relevant dept.