Retirement In Thailand - Will I Still Get U.k. Pen

[welshtony]

Hi guys, this may seem like a silly question to those of you in the know but here goes...

Im thinking of staying out here and working as a teacher, at this point I do not know how long for. Retiring out here sounds great but if I work out here until retirement age (what is retirement age here?) will I still be able to draw my U.K. pension? Im 31 at the moment and was wondering what the situation would be as if I stayed in Thailand I would not be making U.K. contributions.

I imagine the answer to be a definite "No, obviously" but Im under the impression that if you are a waste of space on job seekers all your life in the U.K. you will still be entitled to a pension! If that is true then would I still be elligble to a U.K. pension? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Welshtony.

[Dah fahrang]

Hi guys, this may seem like a silly question to those of you in the know but here goes...

Im thinking of staying out here and working as a teacher, at this point I do not know how long for. Retiring out here sounds great but if I work out here until retirement age (what is retirement age here?) will I still be able to draw my U.K. pension? Im 31 at the moment and was wondering what the situation would be as if I stayed in Thailand I would not be making U.K. contributions.

I imagine the answer to be a definite "No, obviously" but Im under the impression that if you are a waste of space on job seekers all your life in the U.K. you will still be entitled to a pension! If that is true then would I still be elligble to a U.K. pension? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Welshtony.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you do not make contributions, you will not get a pension.

If you have worked in the UK, your employer will have taken contributions from your pay, (unless contracted out, because you were enrolled in an employer based scheme like UK Teachers).

You may get a pension based on contributions made: If you are just 31, this is unlikely to give you anything. The UK DWP has a helpful website tells you how to get an estimate of what pension you might get, based on contributions to date, plus projected contributions to retirement age, and how to continue contributions while overseas.

Why not continue to make contributions while you work here? You may love it now, but loathe it in a few years, and that time will leave a hole in your contributions, which will reduce your pension.

Wherever in the world you are at 60+ years, you'll need money to live off.

And here, the money to live off is currently 80,000 baht per month to extend your retirement visa to remain in the country!

[billd766]

Hi guys, this may seem like a silly question to those of you in the know but here goes...

Im thinking of staying out here and working as a teacher, at this point I do not know how long for. Retiring out here sounds great but if I work out here until retirement age (what is retirement age here?) will I still be able to draw my U.K. pension? Im 31 at the moment and was wondering what the situation would be as if I stayed in Thailand I would not be making U.K. contributions.

I imagine the answer to be a definite "No, obviously" but Im under the impression that if you are a waste of space on job seekers all your life in the U.K. you will still be entitled to a pension! If that is true then would I still be elligble to a U.K. pension? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Welshtony.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually Tony the answer is yes with reservations.

To qualify for a UK state pension "at this time" you need to have paid in to the Social Security fund a total of 44 years worth of contributions and these can be class 1, 2 or 3 and you will receive a state pension which can be paid into a UK bank or even by cheque to you over here. However the cheque will take some time to clear.

Also your pension will NEVER increase as there is no reciprical? spelling agreement between Thailand and the UK as there is with most EU countries and some others.

I am 61 and there should be very few problems for me as I have paid up all my contributions.

However in your case at your age it is like predicting the lottery numbers 5 times in a row correctly.

I understand that the present UK government wants to:-

a) gradually increase the retirement age to 70 for men and possibly for women as well

b ) they want you to take out a private pension scheme as they want to cut back on the pension benefits as much as possible as the pool of security paying in is being exceeded by the pool of people taking their retirement pension and these people are living longer so the government will need more pension funds from a smaller workforce.

c) A different government in the UK may change things but in your case there may be another 6 or more elections and who knows what party will be in power then and what their policies could be.

d) companies don't want people to work for 50 years and then draw a pension from the company for the next 30 or so years so they only want a hardcore of permanent staff and contract out if necessary or even export jobs to another country. A prime example is LloydsTSB bank. I live in Thailand and I cannot actually speak to anyone in my branch in Jersey as I cannot get a local number. I ring the phone bank and more often that not I speak to a very nice lady who is actually in India and can't help me anyway.

At this stage in your life you are too far away from retirement to even think of government pension plans.

There are other threads on this forum dealing with teaching, what you can or cannot do, how much salary etc.

There is one today and with the current exchange rates and a good degree you could make between £500 and less than £1000 a month.

Best of luck and I hope that this makes things a little clearer.

Altrernatively google UK pensions and see what you come up with.

[Baht Simpson]

billd, do you know if the pension is frozen from the time you become non-resident or from the time you stop paying, i.e. possibly 65.

For example. I am 50 next year and hope to retire to LOS. I have 33 qualifying years paid up so far. If I pay another 11 years I will have the full 44 qualifying years. Obviously i wont get paid until I am 65 but will I get the monthly pension based on the amount it is when I leave the country or will I get the monthly amount of what it will be in 11 years time?

Edited October 27, 2005 by Baht Simpson

[khunlungphudhu]

Frozen at the level you qualify for the day you exit the UK.

Battle Royale going on just now, to get more info Google BEP,(Yahoo Group!), may open your eyes.

[the scouser]

I understand that the present UK government wants to:-

a) gradually increase the retirement age to 70 for men and possibly for women as well...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If they do for one gender, they've got to do it for the other. A few years back, a bloke took the British government to court on the basis that to pay the state retirement pension to women at 60, but men at 65, was discriminatory. He won (hurrah)! So what did HMG do? They decided to increase the age at which women receive the pension.

I believe the state pension works on a sliding scale, and the 44 years of "paying in" to which billd referred is to qualify for the full hit. If you've made fewer contributions, you'll still get a pension, but a lesser amount.

Scouse.

[Guest endure]

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.pensionservice.gov.uk/

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Hi guys, this may seem like a silly question to those of you in the know but here goes...

Im thinking of staying out here and working as a teacher, at this point I do not know how long for. Retiring out here sounds great but if I work out here until retirement age (what is retirement age here?) will I still be able to draw my U.K. pension? Im 31 at the moment and was wondering what the situation would be as if I stayed in Thailand I would not be making U.K. contributions.

I imagine the answer to be a definite "No, obviously" but Im under the impression that if you are a waste of space on job seekers all your life in the U.K. you will still be entitled to a pension! If that is true then would I still be elligble to a U.K. pension? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Welshtony.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you do not make contributions, you will not get a pension.

If you have worked in the UK, your employer will have taken contributions from your pay, (unless contracted out, because you were enrolled in an employer based scheme like UK Teachers).

You may get a pension based on contributions made: If you are just 31, this is unlikely to give you anything. The UK DWP has a helpful website tells you how to get an estimate of what pension you might get, based on contributions to date, plus projected contributions to retirement age, and how to continue contributions while overseas.

Why not continue to make contributions while you work here? You may love it now, but loathe it in a few years, and that time will leave a hole in your contributions, which will reduce your pension.

Wherever in the world you are at 60+ years, you'll need money to live off.

And here, the money to live off is currently 80,000 baht per month to extend your retirement visa to remain in the country!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well 65000 baht/month to be accurate.

[Seen all,learnt nothing]

To clarify a few points made by other posters.

UK state pension is payable to anyone who has minimum 11 qualifying years of National Ins. contibutions (currently slightly different for women). Pitifully small pension though. If OP has been in continuous full time education or employment he should have about 16 years, so already OP could be entitled to a small pension at 65.

Max pension is obtained with 44years. Between 11 and 44 is on a sliding scale.

You can continue to make NI contibutions whilst in Thailand. Current rate 6.95GBP/week for Class 3 for we idle ex-pats (in some circumstances working ex-pats can pay lower Class 2 but don't know details so I won't guess). You pay annually, or less frequently as you can defer payments for any tax year up to 6 years.

Billd is incorrect. There is no govt proposal to increase retirement age to 70 (sure they'd like to though). Govt. want to encourage people to voluntarily work longer and in return for deferring payment of state pension they will get a higher pension (or maybe it's a lump sum). They will not pay NI contibutions on reaching 65. This may even have started.

The rate paid at age 65 is same for someone with same level of contibutions whether you are resident in UK or Thailand. It is then frozen for Thailand residents (i.e. no cost of living increase).

You should advise Inland Revenue if you are no longer resident in UK. There can be a drawback for those aged 60-64 but as OP is 31, not relevant.

Dah Farang is incorrect. Members of Contracted Out schemes still have NI contibutions deducted albeit at a lower rate.

[briley]

If you are only 31 then the current debate in the UK to make UK pension dependent on 10 - or 20 years residence in the UK instead of NI contributions is interesting. Believe this is the New Zealand approach.

Do wonder where that will leave those with voluntary contributions but not resident. Assume the UK government will just keep the money.

[billd766]

billd, do you know if the pension is frozen from the time you become non-resident or from the time you stop paying, i.e. possibly 65.

For example. I am 50 next year and hope to retire to LOS. I have 33 qualifying years paid up so far. If I pay another 11 years I will have the full 44 qualifying years. Obviously i wont get paid until I am 65 but will I get the monthly pension based on the amount it is when I leave the country or will I get the monthly amount of what it will be in 11 years time?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As far as I know you can change from paying class 1 contributions to class 2 or class 3 depending on your status. I was based in the UK but from 1992 until the present time I have been working internationally. It meant that I was permitted 90 days a year in the UK with a maximum of 180 days in any tax year. This did not include the day I arrived or the day I departed, any training courses in the UK were exempt as was any medical treatment.

This made me tax exempt except the international company that I worked for introduced "hypothetical" tax at the UK rate to pay for any taxes I incurred working in another country. However I was never able to obtain any details of tax paid anywhere.

I went contracting in 1998 and the Inland revenue agreed that I could pay the lower NI contributions at the class 2 rates.

Now I will try to copy some of the other posters information to see if it can help.

Posted Today, 2005-10-28 01:32:58

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.pensionservice.gov.uk/

The best information you can get and they are very helpful.

Seen all,learnt nothing Posted Today, 2005-10-28 09:07:30

To clarify a few points made by other posters.

UK state pension is payable to anyone who has minimum 11 qualifying years of National Ins. contibutions (currently slightly different for women). Pitifully small pension though. If OP has been in continuous full time education or employment he should have about 16 years, so already OP could be entitled to a small pension at 65.

Max pension is obtained with 44years. Between 11 and 44 is on a sliding scale.

You can continue to make NI contibutions whilst in Thailand. Current rate 6.95GBP/week for Class 3 for we idle ex-pats (in some circumstances working ex-pats can pay lower Class 2 but don't know details so I won't guess). You pay annually, or less frequently as you can defer payments for any tax year up to 6 years.

Billd is incorrect. There is no govt proposal to increase retirement age to 70 (sure they'd like to though). Govt. want to encourage people to voluntarily work longer and in return for deferring payment of state pension they will get a higher pension (or maybe it's a lump sum). They will not pay NI contibutions on reaching 65. This may even have started.

I was not sure if there was actually a proposal on the floor or if it was just a discussion. I have been out of the UK since 1991 and I am not as up to date as I should be, mainly because I really don't care about the UK anymore.

The rate paid at age 65 is same for someone with same level of contibutions whether you are resident in UK or Thailand. It is then frozen for Thailand residents (i.e. no cost of living increase).

This I do know through the Pensions department.

Baht Simpson Posted Yesterday, 2005-10-27 22:16:32

billd, do you know if the pension is frozen from the time you become non-resident or from the time you stop paying, i.e. possibly 65.

For example. I am 50 next year and hope to retire to LOS. I have 33 qualifying years paid up so far. If I pay another 11 years I will have the full 44 qualifying years. Obviously i wont get paid until I am 65 but will I get the monthly pension based on the amount it is when I leave the country or will I get the monthly amount of what it will be in 11 years time?

There is a difference between non-resident and ordinarily resident. and as far as I remember non-resident basically means you have quit the UK and ordinarily resident means that if your work is done overseas due to your job requirements then you are ordinarily resident if your company had work for you in the UK.

A fine line distinction but tax exemption comes into it somewhere along the line.

I have been working overseas since 1992 and I have forotton how it happened but it is possible.

At the end of the day you can use the pension service website to learn about your NI contributions but you have to go to your income tax office to learn about being tax exempt.

Hopefully that makes things a little clearer.

Please accept my apologies if I am not totally correct as NI and Income tax is a minefield for anybody to walk into.

My friends daughter in the UK works for the inland revenue and even in her office nobody knows all the answers.

[Seen all,learnt nothing]

billd766.

You are obviously better informed and more eloquent than I. And I therefore direct OP to refer and act upon your informed response.

Blimey O'reilly. I see you have a friends daughter working in the Inland Revenue. Enough said!!!

You know what billd766. I haven't understood a word.

[billd766]

billd766.

You are obviously better informed and more eloquent than I. And I therefore direct OP to refer and act upon your informed response.

Blimey O'reilly. I see you have a friends daughter working in the Inland Revenue. Enough said!!!

You know what billd766. I haven't understood a word.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Most of the information I have offered is from 12 years of experience in talking with the Inland Revenue and the National Insurance people.

If you are tax exempt in the UK and you have a pension that you pay UK tax on there is a chance that you can claim the tax back.

I did last year and it worked and I am going to again this year.

Also the Inland Revenue offer an online taxation claim form and if you pay normal tax and you are overseas you can do it that way.

The last tax year I overpaid by £60 and got a refund about a month after I filed my claim.