Uk State Pension

[Baht Simpson]

"The UK's creaking and complicated state pension could be phased out by the end of the decade and replaced with a flat rate 'Citizen’s Pension' of £105 a week. "

http://www.thisismoney.com/20041206/nm85314.html

The interesting phrase in this article as regards future UK retirees to Thailand is this:

"Eligibility would be based on residency rather than on work record and National Insurance contributions, ...."

It seems daft to not take other factors into account. If this is the case then someone who has worked all their life in the UK and becomes non-resident having contributed for many years would forfeit the pension, whilst those who come to the UK late in life and who have contributed little would be entitled to a full pension. How will they resolve this I wonder? Surely it should be pro-rated.

[Jockstar]

###### typical of the British government. get a private pension. You get more money. 105 quid a week. How the ###### can anyone live on that. I'm 30 now. So in 30-35 years. it will be worth shit. Personanlly ihavent paid my stamp for a few years as i've been in and out.

[GuestHouse]

You have misunderstood the statement.

The minister incharge of the changes was spoke to the BBC on this subject and in particular the residency clause.

It relates to residency within the UK during your working life, so that you will receive a pension based on number of years spent living in the UK.

NOT Residency after retirement.

The reason for the changes is to balance woment's pensions, fewer than half of whom receive the full UK pension, having missed pensoin payments when raising children.

It will not effect the pensions of people who are overseas after retirement.

Thre Government are also looking into removing the clauses that prevent expat pensioners receiving pension increases.

So on the whole it is a good change.

[Baht Simpson]

Thanks for that clarification Guest House. I've heard no other reports on this so I was relying purely on this article.

All anybody can ask is to be treated fairly according to the contributions they have made. I assume you would be entitled to keep up payments after non-residency retirement if you wished so that you could receive the full pension.

However, looking at this purely in a financial sense, what has to be taken into account is whether it is actually worth the money you will receive back. At a fixed amount of GBP 105.00 per week there is little chance that this will increase dramatically over the next 20 years or so if they are looking to control pension payments in the expectance of an inevitable increase in the amount of people of pensionable age. At the moment my Council tax alone is getting on for half of that.

Long gone are the days when a State pension was enough to live on. You certainly wouldn't be able to retire to Thailand on a retirement visa based on this income alone. At BHT 800,000 that would relate to approximately GBP 207.00 per week.

I'm glad that they are looking into resolving the restrictions for expat pensioners. Let's hope they do.

[et33.com]

heard that pension funds are having problems... in US and UK...

[loong]

The reason for the changes is to balance woment's pensions, fewer than half of whom receive the full UK pension, having missed pensoin payments when raising children.

Woman already get credits for when they are receiving child benefit payments, but only if the benefit is in their name. If the husband is/was the named beneficiary

the wife would receive no credits.

£105 per week is the minimum that the government considers that a pensioner needs to live on, so I assume that it will be increased in years to come in line with inflation. But you can't rely on that!!

[GuestHouse]

Woman already get credits for when they are receiving child benefit payments, but only if the benefit is in their name. If the husband is/was the named beneficiary

the wife would receive no credits.

This is the case now but has not always been the case, hence the change in the law.

The majority of female pensioners in the UK are not receiving the full pension.

[RDN]

£105 per week is (currently) 7,800 baht per week, 31,000 baht per month or over 400,000 baht per year. That should be enough for a lot of people to live a good life in Thailand. Of course, the retirement rules for single people demand 800,000 baht in the bank - but you don't have to spend it all each year.

So I think £105 / week is pretty good for living in Thailand.

BUT, the rules state that as soon as you leave the UK, your pension will NOT INCREASE WITH INFLATION if you live in Thailand. This is called "Freezing of the state pension". There is no justification for it, some people in other countries (the EU naturally) do NOT have their pensions frozen, but we lucky people in Thailand do.

If you don't like it, write to your MP. Or join a pressure group such as BEP (British Expatriate Pensioners) here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bep/

Don't you just love our government? (No answer necessary).

[Dickie]

Woman already get credits for when they are receiving child benefit payments, but only if the benefit is in their name. If the husband is/was the named beneficiary

the wife would receive no credits.

This is the case now but has not always been the case, hence the change in the law.

The majority of female pensioners in the UK are not receiving the full pension.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's because they opted to pay the married woman's stamp rather than the full one. It was a reduced NIC payment so they could keep more of their money in their pockets but, naturally, something wasn't being paid for and that was their pension contributions. NOW they're bleating that their pension is less than the mens', who couldn't opt for reduced NICs. Women who paid the full stamp ARE getting the full pension. You take your choice ...

[ZOVOX]

"The UK's creaking and complicated state pension could be phased out by the end of the decade and replaced with a flat rate 'Citizen’s Pension' of £105 a week. "

The reason why it's getting phased out because the state pension scheme - and this applies to other western countries - is in crisis, because the contributions from the current retirees has long gone, so basically the current workforce's contributions are supporting the current retirees, and they are living longer. in the future, when the current workforce retires, they will have to rely on the future workforce to support them, and the furure workforce is bone idol and insufficient in number. this is why it is necessary for western countries get more immigrant workers, because they do jobs that people in the west won't do,a nd also to increase the workforce. This also why the western governments are trying to raise the retirement age.

[Neeranam]

"The UK's creaking and complicated state pension could be phased out by the end of the decade and replaced with a flat rate 'Citizen’s Pension' of £105 a week. "

http://www.thisismoney.com/20041206/nm85314.html

The interesting phrase in this article as regards future UK retirees to Thailand is this:

"Eligibility would be based on residency rather than on work record and National Insurance contributions, ...."

It seems daft to not take other factors into account. If this is the case then someone who has worked all their life in the UK and becomes non-resident having contributed for many years would forfeit the pension, whilst those who come to the UK late in life and who have contributed little would be entitled to a full pension. How will they resolve this I wonder? Surely it should be pro-rated.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T PAY ANYTHING TO THE BRITISH GOVT. I ONLY WORKED A FEW YEARS IN THE UK AND ACTUALLY GOT A LETTER ERCENTLY ASKING IS I WANTED TO PAY OVER 1000B A MONTH. &lt;deleted&gt; TO THAT. I AM HOPING THAT THE GOVT CHANGES BY THE TIME I RETIRE - ANOTHER 30 YEARS! HOPEFULLY, SCOTLAND WILL HAVE IT'S OWN GOVERNMENT BY THEN.

WHO KNOWS, I MIGHT BE ENTITLED TO SOMETHING FROM THEM.

I AM NOT SURE IF I WILL SEE 65 YEARS OF AGE, WHY WOULD I TAKE THE CHANCE ON THIS BY SENDING MONEY I CAN'T REALLY AFFORD?

SOMEONE SAID, HOW CAN ANYONE SURVIVE ON 105 POUNDS A WEEK. WELL I DO! IT WOULD BE VERY WELCOME INDEED WHEN I AM OLDER.

[GuestHouse]

Calm down Neeranam, and read my earlier post .... here to save yuo looking.

You have misunderstood the statement.

The minister incharge of the changes was spoke to the BBC on this subject and in particular the residency clause.

It relates to residency within the UK during your working life, so that you will receive a pension based on number of years spent living in the UK.

NOT Residency after retirement.

The reason for the changes is to balance woment's pensions, fewer than half of whom receive the full UK pension, having missed pensoin payments when raising children.

It will not effect the pensions of people who are overseas after retirement.

Thre Government are also looking into removing the clauses that prevent expat pensioners receiving pension increases.

So on the whole it is a good change.

Oh and Scotland has got its own parliament... You really have been away for a long time haven't you!

[Dickie]

Oh and Scotland has got its own parliament... You really have been away for a long time haven't you!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... and the Scots hate it, because their MPs are aggrandising themselves at the locals' expense, particularly the new parliament building. Wait until their income tax goes up by the full 3% that the Scottish parliament is allowed to raise above the standard UK tax rates to pay for all this crap. Should be funny when they come crawling to the rest of the Union for a bail-out, the smart money is on the response being something akin to fornication but far less pleasant.