UK pensions

[shunter]

Labour MP Frank Field .

 

Another fine example of the toxic champagne socialist, I've got at my pension at the expense of yours.

[evadgib]

7 ways financial advice is being made more accessible

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

4 hours ago, evadgib said:

7 ways financial advice is being made more accessible

The Online Pension Dashboard is a great idea. Probably similar in concept to the HMRC Digital Account. The latter allows you to log in and review your income tax, National Insurance Record and State Pension data all on one site.

[nong38]

Just a reminder that the Chancellors Autumn Statement is next wednesday 23rd, should be able to watch it live from the BBC site from 1200ish GMT ( probably nearer to 1230GMT kick off though ).

[Johnniey]

On 11/11/2016 at 5:41 PM, evadgib said:

More than 1.5 million personal State Pension forecasts requested since the launch of the new State Pension

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-than-15-million-personal-state-pension-forecasts-requested-since-the-launch-of-the-new-state-pension

I can't believe I am actually happy with something the govt has done! 

[chiang mai]

On 19/11/2016 at 7:40 PM, nong38 said:

Just a reminder that the Chancellors Autumn Statement is next wednesday 23rd, should be able to watch it live from the BBC site from 1200ish GMT ( probably nearer to 1230GMT kick off though ).

 

Are we expecting any pluses or minuses for the expat crowd, personal allowances maybe?

[nong38]

There is speculation about allowances being enhanced but lets wait and see hope for some crumbs that might offset the exchange rate.

[i claudius]

3 hours ago, nong38 said:

There is speculation about allowances being enhanced but lets wait and see hope for some crumbs that might offset the exchange rate.

I am waiting to win the lottery , its going to be a long wait ,cynical old bastard arn't i?

[nong38]

10 hours ago, i claudius said:

I am waiting to win the lottery , its going to be a long wait ,cynical old bastard arn't i?

Yes you are but we have to be optimistic, over a beer we will probably agree you are right!! But we live in hop....( the root of beer).

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

42 minutes ago, nong38 said:

Yes you are but we have to be optimistic, over a beer we will probably agree you are right!! But we live in hop....( the root of beer).

Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy”  Benjamin Franklin

[nong38]

Well not too much to worry about in the Autumn statement, tax allowances go up to £11500 in April, 2017 and due to go to £12500 by 2020 with higher rate payers also getting a bit of help, after 2020 we will see, same for the triple lock position it will be reviewed for cost and sustainabilty in due course, so expect another rise in retirement age linked to that, you can open another bottle now then sleep soundly.

[dabhand]

Interesting change to flexible access for Qrops in the Autumn Statement.

 

In a statement published on Thursday, the UK Treasury said it will “update the conditions that foreign pension schemes must meet to get UK tax relief on contributions and transfers, by removing the requirement for 70% of transferred funds to be used to provide the member with an income for life.” The changes are likely to take effect from April 2017, although the exact details will be announced in the Finance Bill on 5 December.

 

http://www.international-adviser.com/news/1032817/uk-scraps-income-life-rule-eu-overseas-pensions

You may need to be registered to gain access to the site.

 

That equalises the treatment of overseas pensions with UK / EU based schemes. Finer detail to come and that may, or may not, include a penalty for early drawdown. I believe the current early drawdown in the UK has a tax impact which can mean a higher tax rate for larger withdrawals. Some overseas schemes, I understand, only have a low rate no matter the level of drawdown - for Gibraltar it is 2.5%.  

[Oxx]

12 hours ago, dabhand said:

Interesting change to flexible access for Qrops in the Autumn Statement.

 

The 70% bit was not in the Autumn Statement.  In fact, there's no mention of QROPS or ROPS at all.

 

The closest is Section 4.21 which is about "Overseas Pensions" which is a different beast.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571559/autumn_statement_2016_web.pdf

 

This news must have come from a different source.  Anyone know what?

 

 

[dabhand]

3 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

The 70% bit was not in the Autumn Statement.  In fact, there's no mention of QROPS or ROPS at all.

 

The closest is Section 4.21 which is about "Overseas Pensions" which is a different beast.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571559/autumn_statement_2016_web.pdf

 

This news must have come from a different source.  Anyone know what?

 

 

 

Another IA article has this comment:

In a statement published on Thursday, the UK Treasury said it will “update the conditions that foreign pension schemes must meet to get UK tax relief on contributions and transfers, by removing the requirement for 70% of transferred funds to be used to provide the member with an income for life.”

http://www.international-adviser.com/news/1032817/uk-scraps-income-life-rule-eu-overseas-pensions

 

Also. Deloitte make mention of the 70% issue on page 22 of their published commentary on the AS.

http://www.ukbudget.com/files/deloitte-uk-autumn-statement-2016-commentary.pdf

 

In any event all should be revealed, or not, on 5th December.

[SgtRock]

One for all the old codgers that are drawing the State Pension.

 

Quote

State pension to rise by 2.5% in April 2017

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/29/state-pension-to-rise-by-25-in-april-2017

 

That is of course if your pension is not frozen.

[SgtRock]

For any readers of this thread who are under 55.

 

Quote

Tens of millions of workers under the age of 55 could be affected by changes to pension age sooner than previously planned, according to a former minister.

 

Steve Webb, pensions minister in the coalition government between 2010-15, says documents produced by the Department of Work and Pensions suggest the government is preparing a “more aggressive” timetable on state pension age changes.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/28/basically-a-huge-tax-increase-readers-on-proposed-pension-age-rise

 

Write off any plans that you might have had that included a State Pension.

 

You will be dead before you see it.

[sumrit]

5 hours ago, SgtRock said:

One for all the old codgers that are drawing the State Pension.

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/29/state-pension-to-rise-by-25-in-april-2017

 

That is of course if your pension is not frozen.

 

Of course, for those of us old codgers who are drawing their pensions under the old scheme (pre 2016) won't get a 2.5% rise anyway. Unless we spent our entire working life paying into a company/private scheme we would also have paid into one of the Governments top up (SERPS etc) schemes. But the extra pension we get for paying into those schemes DOESN'T qualify for any annual increase. The 2.5% increase is limited to the basic £119.30 pension.

 

So for example somebody retiring before 2016, by paying into 'SERPS' all their working lives they could have seen their state pension increase to say £155.65  (using new pensioners pension rate as an example). But they will only get an increase on their basic pension of £3.00, just a 1.93% rise on their total state pension, 95p less than new pensioners will get. 

 

It might be small now but that gap will widen year after year after......................throughout their pension lives. 

[nong38]

A bit like the power of compound interest, only in reverse.

[evadgib]

I guess here is as good a place as any to post this ('Residency' an' all that!):

 

A landmark bill which sets out and governs the powers available to the police, security and intelligence agencies to gather and access electronic communications has received Royal Assent.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/investigatory-powers-bill-receives-royal-assent

Edited November 30, 2016 by evadgib

[evadgib]

HMRC is today urging first-time Self Assessment customers to register for a Personal Tax Account and see how easy submitting a tax return is

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/self-assessment-is-simple-with-a-personal-tax-account

Edited December 1, 2016 by evadgib

[dabhand]

Interesting article from IE on the number of UK pensioners returning to the UK from 'frozen' pension locations:

http://www.iexpats.com/2200-expats-frozen-pensions-come-home/

The government has confirmed almost 2,200 British expats with frozen state pensions have returned to the UK during the past year.

 

Including the usual 'helpful' comment from a DWP spokesman:

 

“We have a very clear position on this policy – which has remained consistent for around 70 years: the UK state pension is payable worldwide but is only uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so or a reciprocal agreement is in place. There are no plans to review this.” Said a Department of Work and Pensions spokesman.

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

I read the article and was bemused as to why a journalist would put the question to a DWP spokesperson ( civil servant ) and expect to get a different answer.  What kind of answer would we expect from a policeman booking us for speeding if we told him the speed limit was unfair, so rather than book us he should reduce it.  The people who should be constantly challenged about this policy are MP's. They, after all, having the power to change it

[evadgib]

Don't worry, He's gone :)

 

Lord Freud to retire from ministerial role

[Ricardo]

UK-pensioners (and others) will find that the cost of their traditional Christmas-dinner has risen by up to14%, compared to last year !

 

" A basket of Christmas food has increased 14% on last year with the cost of many items from non-discount supermarkets rising above inflation. "

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-38051644

[JB300]

I think it was this thread but I'll repost this link anyway... https://www.gov.uk/government/news/self-assessment-is-simple-with-a-personal-tax-account


Thank you very much to BM who posted this, very useful information for those of us (too) rapidly approaching UK pension age...

[nontabury]

19 hours ago, dabhand said:

Interesting article from IE on the number of UK pensioners returning to the UK from 'frozen' pension locations:

http://www.iexpats.com/2200-expats-frozen-pensions-come-home/

The government has confirmed almost 2,200 British expats with frozen state pensions have returned to the UK during the past year.

 

Including the usual 'helpful' comment from a DWP spokesman:

 

“We have a very clear position on this policy – which has remained consistent for around 70 years: the UK state pension is payable worldwide but is only uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so or a reciprocal agreement is in place. There are no plans to review this.” Said a Department of Work and Pensions spokesman.

 

   I just wonder how this influx of UK pensioners is costing the government,if you take into account, the increased financial burden on the NHS, social services etc.,

I've always thought that it would benefit the Chancellor of the Excheaquer to pay a bonus to those pensioners who go to live in a foreign country. As it is, the government is quite happy to pay the annual increase to those pensioners living in the EU, and at the same time paying any medical costs to the EU country in which they live.

 

[nong38]

6 hours ago, Ricardo said:

UK-pensioners (and others) will find that the cost of their traditional Christmas-dinner has risen by up to14%, compared to last year !

 

" A basket of Christmas food has increased 14% on last year with the cost of many items from non-discount supermarkets rising above inflation. "

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-38051644

Dont forget the HMG, in all its benevolence, wishes all pensioners a jolly happy Christmas and here is ten quid ( another figure that does not get uprated ) to make sure you want for nothing at this special time of year! Does anyone remember what a turkey is?

[dick dasterdly]

6 hours ago, Ricardo said:

UK-pensioners (and others) will find that the cost of their traditional Christmas-dinner has risen by up to14%, compared to last year !

 

" A basket of Christmas food has increased 14% on last year with the cost of many items from non-discount supermarkets rising above inflation. "

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-38051644

One of these days I really must look into why my private/company pensions (that are supposed to be index-linked in some way) are rising by a tiny percentage - if at all!

 

Sounds as if some "non-discount supermarkets" are looking to make a 'killing' from their wealthy customers.

 

Interesting that the article also mentioned that the cost had dropped in other supermarkets - but it makes a great (albeit misleading) headline.

[Ricardo]

It's a fine life, so long as you shop at Aldi or Lidl, and bank at the food-bank !

[billd766]

5 hours ago, nong38 said:

Dont forget the HMG, in all its benevolence, wishes all pensioners a jolly happy Christmas and here is ten quid ( another figure that does not get uprated ) to make sure you want for nothing at this special time of year! Does anyone remember what a turkey is?

 

I am not sure but was there not one call David Cameron a short while ago?