Uk Pension Or Personal Plan.

[Neeranam]

Is anyone paying contributions towards their UK pension whilst working in Thailand?

How much is it?

I have only paid about 5 years worth when I was working in the UK, before and after I went to University.

Can anyone advise me if this is a good idea? I think I will be in Thailand for the rest of my life.

I'm not earning a large salary by UK standards - about 35,000 a month.

Would anyone suggest that I do some other form of personal pension.

I am 40 years old.

The Thai pension plan is traditioally that the kids look after the parents, but this is changing and I don't know how many kids I'll have - 1 at the moment with one possibly coming next year.

Unless my business ideas and plans come into fruition, I could not afford to put much away as saving for a house right now, and new car. Most my spare cash goes towards going home every 2 years which is bloddy expensive these days.

Cheers

NN

[MikeRay]

That´s why I preferred to stay at home and the wife preferred to come to Europe.

35k,wow nice.With family ?

Have you ever thought about what´ll happen to you and your family if you were incapable of working?

What are your plans then?Back to the social system in which you´ve never paid in?

And you were talking about beeing selfish

Edited October 27, 2005 by MikeRay

[lopburi3]

There are Thai pension plans now that most working people seem to contribute into - I would think you would be in one of these if working for a school. They are probably not worth that much on pay out but it would be a start - and over time even a small outlay can mean a lot later on.

[Neeranam]

That´s why I preferred to stay at home and the wife preferred to come to Europe.

35k,wow nice.With family ? whistling.gif

Have you ever thought about what´ll happen to you and your family if you were incapable of working?

What are your plans then?Back to the social system in which you´ve never paid in?

And you were talking about beeing selfish guitar.gif guitar.gif

Well I prefer to live here - I am happy, and healthy, as are my family, which is the main thing. I never was in the UK.

If I were incapable of working, yes I guess back to the UK, I don't know if I'd call that selfish, just necessary.

35 k gives us a good standard of living, believe it or not.

[MikeRay]

So many "expats" can only be expats as they know there´s a social hammock that catches them if they fail.

And 35K isn´t a good salary as long you can´t afford to retire once old.

[andyfletch]

Is anyone paying contributions towards their UK pension whilst working in Thailand?

How much is it?

I have only paid about 5 years worth when I was working in the UK, before and after I went to University.

Can anyone advise me if this is a good idea? I think I will be in Thailand for the rest of my life.

I'm not earning a large salary by UK standards  - about 35,000 a month.

Would anyone suggest that I do some other form of personal pension.

I am 40 years old.

The Thai pension plan is traditioally that the kids look after the parents, but this is changing and I don't know how many kids I'll have - 1 at the moment with one possibly coming next year.

Unless my business ideas and plans come into fruition, I could not afford to put much away as saving for a house right now, and  new car. Most my spare cash goes towards going home every 2 years which is bloddy expensive these days.

Cheers

NN

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Neeranam

Is this still sitting in the UK pension scheme? Is it state pension or company one? I have transferred my pensions offshore, through a guy I know in Malaysia. They are now making significantly more interest than sitting in a UK scheme!!, and you can add to them as and when you want to/are able to. If you want to know more, PM me.

Andy

Edited October 27, 2005 by andyfletch

[Neeranam]

The state pension I am talking about - I guess it would be about 1500baht a month to keep it active. There would be back payments too - anyone any experience? I've PM'd you.

I used to have a superannuation thing but used that to come here years ago.

[Neeranam]

So many "expats" can only be expats as they know there´s a social hammock that catches them if they fail.

And 35K isn´t a good salary as long you can´t afford to retire once old.

Are you an expat? I'm not interested in whether you can get a good job in Thailand or not. I want to startpaying into a pension plan. The question is whether or not to pay into the UK state one.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Neeranam

[andyfletch]

So many "expats" can only be expats as they know there´s a social hammock that catches them if they fail.

And 35K isn´t a good salary as long you can´t afford to retire once old.

Are you an expat? I'm not interested in whether you can get a good job in Thailand or not. I want to startpaying into a pension plan. The question is whether or not to pay into the UK state one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wouldn't bother with the UK state plan..............can get much better returns in personal pensions/offshore investments.

I looked at the UK state pension and decided it just wasn't worth it !!!

[Oswulf]

Is anyone paying contributions towards their UK pension whilst working in Thailand?

How much is it?

I have only paid about 5 years worth when I was working in the UK, before and after I went to University.

Can anyone advise me if this is a good idea? I think I will be in Thailand for the rest of my life.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

(1) For you to get any state pension you have to have made a minimum of 11 years' National Insurance contributions.

(2) Pensioners living in the UK get an annual increase based on inflation, but if you are living in Thailand there is no increase; the value of your pension will quickly erode.

Putting these two facts together, and given your circumstances, making additional NI contributions is not a good way forward. Find a different way for saving towards your retirement, such as a range of unit trusts.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Oswulf

[Baht Simpson]

Oswulf is right. 11 years to qualify for a minimum pension. To qualify for the full UK pension you have to have a minimum of 44 qualifying years. That means paying either class 1,2 or 3 contributions for that number of years. As you are 40 and have only paid 5 years contributions you would be paying class 3 contributions for the remaining 25 years to the normal retirement age of 65. You would still then only have 30 qualifying years and would get a reduced pension, roughly three quarters.

I currently have 33 qualifying years so I shall probably pay class 3 contributions for 11 years or, as I believe it is possible, pay a lump sum to cover the remaining 11 years. The option is to pay nothing more and get a three quarters pension.

If you have a substantial period to pay before retirement the advice to invest elsewhere is probably prudent. One word of warning too. I was listening to a BBC radio programme a few weeks ago and a shadow government politician said that if they ever got to power they were considering limiting UK state pensions to those who have been resident for at least ten years in a period of twenty before retirement. She wasn't specific about the details but who knows what might happen in the future. So it's possible if you retire to Thailand at 50 and keep up your contributions to 65 you would only qualify for a pension if they grandfathered your contributions or would only qualify for the years you had ben resident. Seeing that expats outside the EU don't get inflationary rises as UK residents do who knows what they might do to them when the inevitable pensions crisis kicks in.

Voluntary National Insurance Contributions are explained here.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/ca08.pdf

Good luck.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Baht Simpson

[Guest endure]

You can get an online pension forecast (after you've sigmed up) here:

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/resour...rvices/home.asp

[brianbrain]

You can get an online pension forecast (after you've sigmed up) here:

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/resour...rvices/home.asp

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi, I followed the link and signed up for the service. There was a note saying "available to UK residents only" but I presume that is because they will mail the PIN number to a UK home address only. Anyway, for my circumstances that should not be a problem. Now I have to wait seven days for the PIN number.

Cheers,

BB

[Neeranam]

Voluntary National Insurance Contributions are explained here.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/ca08.pdf

Good luck.

Thanks a lot!

You can get an online pension forecast (after you've sigmed up) here:

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/resour...rvices/home.asp

Thanks a lot!