19 minutes ago, JB300 said:

Good to see we've got our priorities right...
Your aid millions to help the elderly in China: British embassy in Beijing invites groups to apply for cash from £1.36billion fund

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4197890/Your-aid-millions-help-elderly-China.html


I've nothing against supporting this worthy cause but think the Chinese government is in a much better place to do so than we are...

Charity begins at home & all that

I like Chop Suey and my wife had a Chinese grandparent. Perhaps we should apply ?

On ‎05‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 7:17 AM, nontabury said:

I think it would be useful if you were to read the whole thread.

I'm sure HM pensions will be only to willing to pay your FROZEN pension here in Thailand.

yes sorry thats correct unless new deals are struck between these countries ...wont hold my breath eh

 

On 1/5/2017 at 0:47 PM, ignis said:

Re  Pension

My last payment arrived in my Thai Bank on 30th Nov...... So then next money should have arrived on 28th Dec, so far nothing !!!   

 

+ so say ??

https://www.gov.uk/how-to-have-your-benefits-paid

Due day 23 - 30th December ....... payments made on 23rd, wonder where mine has got to ?  = more phone calls

 

when I spoke to somebody in Wolverhampton international pensions they told me to allow 10 work days.. !!!!        

 Automatic payments by Computer that have a long Christmas and New Year ?

 

For those of you having trouble getting your pension on time, another option is to have the pension paid into a UK bank and then transfer it yourself at a cheaper rate via Transferwise or a similar service. This is what I have been doing.

 

As a resident of Thailand you can open a sterling account offshore but within the UK banking system. Nationwide International on the Isle of Man is closing soon, but Santander IOM is accepting account applications from Thai residents.

 

Because of the Nationwide closure, I just opened an instant access type account with Santander IOM, minimum deposit £1 but pathetic interest (0.5%). No cash card available for Thai residents, but you don't need one with Internet banking. They required the usual proof of identity, address, and source of funds.

http://www.santander.co.im/default-instant.aspx

 

(I also opened an account with NS&I (a "savings organization" rather than a bank), but the catch there is that while you can be a foreign resident you need a UK bank account and debit card to get started. They include Isle of Man banks as part of the UK banking system. All deposits are supposed to be from a UK bank account in your own name but they make an exception for UK state pensions. Interest on the Direct Saver account is currently 0.80% and you can sign up for Income Bonds at 1.00%.

https://www.nsandi.com/our-products )

 

My experience with Transferwise has been very good so far. They use the real GBP/THB exchange rate and take 1.5% as a fee, which works out cheaper than a regular Swift transfer. You get to see the actual exchange rate used and it is locked in for 24 hours. My pension seems to arrive in my UK bank on the day it should. The electronic transfer of money from my former bank (I haven't tried Santander yet) to Transferwise took a couple of hours and the transfer from Transferwise to my Thai bank took 2.5 days.

 

So it's a trade-off really. On the one hand you get the convenience of the pension automatically arriving in your Thai bank account, on the other you save a little money and have some control over the process, but need to initiate the transfers yourself each time.

 

 

Online swift tx between my UK and Thai Banks take two working days at a cost of GBP 9.50.

 

HTH

A woman who lost her long-term partner has won a legal battle that is likely to improve the pension rights of unmarried couples in the public sector.

Denise Brewster, who was denied payments from her late partner's occupational pension, argued that she was the victim of "serious discrimination".

Following a to and fro legal fight, she won her case at the UK's highest court.

The case was closely watched by pension schemes which could change their rules.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38904268

These so called off topics being removed seem very on Topic .The Brexit was caused by discontent at England's contribution,dishing out ridiculous amounts,whilst ignoring the Generation who made it.As above states.FROZEN.Thats plain Theft . No restrictions were stated in the rules as to where one lived in retirement was ever mentioned when most of us here first paid contributions


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

17 hours ago, evadgib said:

A woman who lost her long-term partner has won a legal battle that is likely to improve the pension rights of unmarried couples in the public sector.

Denise Brewster, who was denied payments from her late partner's occupational pension, argued that she was the victim of "serious discrimination".

Following a to and fro legal fight, she won her case at the UK's highest court.

The case was closely watched by pension schemes which could change their rules.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38904268

 

It will be interesting to see if the 'pension providers' appeal the ruling and how quickly small print changes are made.

War Pension increase from April:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/war-pension-scheme-payments-increases-from-april-2017 

Not yet applied?

https://www.gov.uk/claim-for-injury-received-while-serving

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/178330?reveal_response=yes

(Scroll down for Govt response)

5 hours ago, evadgib said:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/178330?reveal_response=yes

(Scroll down for Govt response)

According to the government , the terms of the petition are factually incorrect in that all occupational pension payments are susceptible to income tax. I believe that this is how it should be or in the alternative, make all pensions tax free but to identify any one group as warranting pensions free of income tax is flawed reasoning.

For those with savings in the UK and amazed at the appalling rate of interest there might be better news coming. As inflation starts to go up some pundits are saying that a "modest" rise in rates might be on the cards so maybe up .25% for start later this year.

With the trigger for article 50 not far off now how will the exchange rate situation be and how will it affect your pension? I personally and its just my thoughts, I have no control over what happens is that the exchange rate has been overdone and dont expect things to get worse when the HMG make their move and if the markets like what we say and do then maybe the rates will improve, lets hope so anyway.

I also noted that over the last couple of weeks that the "young" should not to expect to retire before 74 and more recently that some people may not retire at all! Does not sound to good to me I like retirement!!

For those with savings in the UK and amazed at the appalling rate of interest there might be better news coming. As inflation starts to go up some pundits are saying that a "modest" rise in rates might be on the cards so maybe up .25% for start later this year.
With the trigger for article 50 not far off now how will the exchange rate situation be and how will it affect your pension? I personally and its just my thoughts, I have no control over what happens is that the exchange rate has been overdone and dont expect things to get worse when the HMG make their move and if the markets like what we say and do then maybe the rates will improve, lets hope so anyway.
I also noted that over the last couple of weeks that the "young" should not to expect to retire before 74 and more recently that some people may not retire at all! Does not sound to good to me I like retirement!!

I read an article recently from US financial pundit who claimed that hard brexit already priced into sterling.

When working out budgets for living, I always factor in an inflation rate. The actual rate varies per item but in general, I allow a 2.5% increase in food each year and a 5% increase in utilities and insurance and a lower rate of exchange Pounds to whatever.

 

I then factor in a 2% rise in pension payments and a static UK State pension.

 

For investments and savings it's a 4% rise.

 

Run a spreadsheet over a 10 year period with these rates and if I am financially positive then all's OK,  In areas I am not, i look at the individual items and alter them accordingly.

 

Mr Micawber's famous, and oft-quoted, recipe for happiness:

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and six pence, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

We've 'Never had it so good'?

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38948369  

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/qrops-online-service-closing-in-april-2017

19 hours ago, evadgib said:

We've 'Never had it so good'?

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38948369  

 

A cynic might almost think, we're being prepared for bad news ? 

 

 

On 2/12/2017 at 10:36 AM, nong38 said:

For those with savings in the UK and amazed at the appalling rate of interest there might be better news coming. As inflation starts to go up some pundits are saying that a "modest" rise in rates might be on the cards so maybe up .25% for start later this year.

With the trigger for article 50 not far off now how will the exchange rate situation be and how will it affect your pension? I personally and its just my thoughts, I have no control over what happens is that the exchange rate has been overdone and dont expect things to get worse when the HMG make their move and if the markets like what we say and do then maybe the rates will improve, lets hope so anyway.

I also noted that over the last couple of weeks that the "young" should not to expect to retire before 74 and more recently that some people may not retire at all! Does not sound to good to me I like retirement!!

Mixed views on the rates.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/pound-sterling-latest-collapse-16-per-cent-brexit-eu-deutsche-bank-incredibly-complicated-a7580151.html

On 2/8/2017 at 5:20 PM, orientalist said:

 

For those of you having trouble getting your pension on time, another option is to have the pension paid into a UK bank and then transfer it yourself at a cheaper rate via Transferwise or a similar service. This is what I have been doing.

 

Shortly after the referendum I moved my state pension from my Thai account back to my UK account in the slim hope that there may be some improvement in the rate in due course. I do not need all my pension so now only bring over what I need as and when but it is not cheaper than under the DWP arrangement. In the time I was getting my pension paid here I always monitored the DWP rate against the forex rate and now do the same with the bank transfers. The difference between the forex rate and the rate into my Thai account is now a bit larger than it was with the DWP. It is not a great deal and as HSBC only charge £4 for the transfer I am not particularly bothered by the additional cost to avoid transferring all my pension, a good chunk is spent in the UK each year anyway. Transfer times from HSBC are normally between 12 and 24 hours, had one go to 2 days.

And further propaganda about how well-off pensioners are  ...

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38970227

 

"A third of UK lives on inadequate income, says think tank."

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36826166

 

"Young suffer as pensioners continue to prosper, says IFS"

 

So it must be pensioners' own fault, if they haven't noticed, just how fat they're living ?

 

 

I find it strange that while there is a general consensus that given current pensioners are now relatively more prosperous than their predecessors, that this is somehow  a situation warranting correction. Is this really bad news ? The media seem to be obsessed with stimulating an inter -generational conflict. Do we really want to return to an age where being a pensioner meant living in poverty and do the young people of today want to look forward to this grim prospect ?

I see India is forging ahead in space exploration. Perhaps we should invite them to send us some money from their foreign aid budget ?

3 hours ago, Ricardo said:

And further propaganda about how well-off pensioners are  ...

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38970227

 

"A third of UK lives on inadequate income, says think tank."

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36826166

 

"Young suffer as pensioners continue to prosper, says IFS"

 

So it must be pensioners' own fault, if they haven't noticed, just how fat they're living ?

 

 

 

I saw that first quote on the BBC website this morning and I tried the minimum Income calculation.

 

I am sorry that this post is so long.

 

Q1 was OK

 

Q2 failed because only one of us is a pensioner and I got this answer

 

Are you pensioners?

Yes

No

One of us is

Sorry, we cannot calculate an income standard for your household.

This is because the Minimum Income Standard does not cover couples one of whom is a pensioner and the other not.

To calculate what your income standard would be if both of you were either above or below the pension age, select one of the first two options above.

 

I changed that to both of us as pensioners and got this answer

 

How many children live with you?

Note: Because you are a pensioner household, we are not asking you about dependent children in your family. Some pensioners do have dependent children, but because the number of cases we can consider is limited, we have only calculated children’s needs in the case of working-age families.

 

I then changed it again to neither of use are pensioners and got to Q3.

 

1 child of secondary school age and the result cam out as this

 

For a basic standard of living,
you and your partner each need to earn:

£14,814 per year (£29,627 per year between you),
giving a net income of £528.66 per week

So that your income, after tax and benefits adjustments, is enough to cover what the public think is needed for a minimum acceptable standard of living.

These calculations assume the household is eligible for benefits and tax credits, depending on its income.

 

Show outgoings breakdown

Weekly outgoings(?)

£528.66

Food

99.11

Alcohol

9.01

Clothing

39.73

Water rates

9.39

Council Tax

23.62

Household Insurances

1.68

Gas, electricity, etc

15.86

Other housing costs

1.92

Household goods

19.74

Household services

14.85

Childcare

0.00

Personal goods and services

38.28

Travel costs and motoring

82.06

Social and cultural activities

87.58

Rent

85.83

Mortgage

0.00

 

Show income breakdown

Weekly Income(?)

£528.66

Your Pre-tax Earnings

284.10

Your Income Tax

14.63

Your National Insurance

15.49

Partner's Pre-tax Earnings

284.10

Partner's Income Tax

14.63

Partner's National Insurance

15.49

After Tax Earnings

507.96

Working Tax Credits

0.00

Child Benefit

20.70

Child Tax Credit

0.00

Childcare Tax Credit

0.00

Housing Benefit

0.00

Council Tax Support

0.00

Income Support / Jobseeker's Allowance

0.00

 

 

 

 

"minimum Income calculation" ....What a load of rubbish

 

Someone has been paid a huge sum of money to draw up a simple spread sheet and fill it with figures plucked out of the air. I would put good money on the "think tank" being comprised of well off "luvvies" who have no idea what normal people spend money on.

 

How about breaking these figures down. Whoever dreamed this up needs their heads looking at. I do not know any opensioner spending £87 a week on social and cultural events. We don't all go to the Royal Albert Hall each week

 

Thank  you Bild for sharing this with us, it helps us to see how misguided so many of these reports are.

 

We are a normal pensioner couple, living a normal life and having paid off our mortgage and car. We live a good life, eat good food and see friends each week. Our total outgoings each month are around. £1,200 and that includes gas and electric as well as council tax. Mind you, we do not have X boxes or Play stations, do not go to the theater each week and make do with our normal clothes, mending when torn or wearing out. We grow our own veg and fruit and love our lifestyle.

 

Obviously something is wrong with us as we do not fit into the think tank figures.

8 hours ago, Rajab Al Zarahni said:

I find it strange that while there is a general consensus that given current pensioners are now relatively more prosperous than their predecessors, that this is somehow  a situation warranting correction. Is this really bad news ? The media seem to be obsessed with stimulating an inter -generational conflict. Do we really want to return to an age where being a pensioner meant living in poverty and do the young people of today want to look forward to this grim prospect ?

I see India is forging ahead in space exploration. Perhaps we should invite them to send us some money from their foreign aid budget ?

We must remember the young of course, they are the ones buying homes at our expense! Interest rates down means less income for us whilst mortgage rates are so low and the owners so over stretched that its difficult to see when rates will be allowed to go up and when they do a lot of people, mainly young people will find it hard to retain their new homes, perhaps then they will know how it feels to be robbed!

13 hours ago, nong38 said:

We must remember the young of course, they are the ones buying homes at our expense! Interest rates down means less income for us whilst mortgage rates are so low and the owners so over stretched that its difficult to see when rates will be allowed to go up and when they do a lot of people, mainly young people will find it hard to retain their new homes, perhaps then they will know how it feels to be robbed!

I can understand some of the criticism of us 'babyboomers', because it does now seem as if the welfare state generally worked a lot better for us than it is likely to for succeeding generations, whether NHS, university fees, retirement age, etc. But when it comes to home ownership, those complaining about how unfair it is for young people now don't know what it was like then. When my first wife and I were looking to buy our first house in 1971, the building societies wouldn't take her earnings into account, even though she had a good job as a teacher - exactly the opposite of nowadays. And so we were aided by the bank of mum and dad - exactly as now! And the young may never have to experience interest rates up to 15%.

 

Critics also overlook the fact that our 'boom' will reach its natural conclusion in the next decade when we all die off and our assets descend to our children or grandchildren, and doubtless they in turn will be denigrated for the alleged advantage that they have.

Link to ICBP FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/pensionjustice/

Note the PDF from the commons library on Brexit & Pensions.

 

14 hours ago, evadgib said:

Link to ICBP FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/pensionjustice/

Note the PDF from the commons library on Brexit & Pensions.

 

Could you use larger print. Some of us OAPs have trouble reading anything smaller than 14 point on this forum....LOL

 

Everyone knows that your pension is frozen if you move to certain countries so why all the shock, horror, we are being cheated posts?

Point taken, but this is a new computer and I cannot work out how to change the font size on any links that I paste.

Highlight the link and then use the font tool bar (size) above the reply.

 

make it about 30 and I should be able to read it.

Not seen on this PC!

 

(Dyslexic & prone to cocking things up:) )

1 hour ago, Flustered said:

Could you use larger print. Some of us OAPs have trouble reading anything smaller than 14 point on this forum....LOL

 

Everyone knows that your pension is frozen if you move to certain countries so why all the shock, horror, we are being cheated posts?

Perhaps it because no one told us when they were taking our subscriptions at the time, we only found out when we moved abroad and enquired why we did not get our annual increase? Whilst you are/were making your NI contributions where does it say........"by the way be aware that if at sometime in the future, when you retire and you move abroad your pension will most likely be frozen from the date you go."