zoe1922 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Hi we've just moved over to Oz. We both have UK pensions with our old employers which we will decide whether to transfer when we have been here about 6 months to ensure we are definitely staying :cool: My question is though, I have read something about continuing to contribute to UK National Insurance and being able to still claim a UK state pension but I am not sure why and if we stay in Oz (which we intend to) can you still claim the UK state pension from Oz. Might be being a bit thick here, as Pensions/Supers still really confuse me, also as we have a pension with our old employers I also don't understand if you can also claim the state pension from the UK too.... Thanks for any help you can give - you can probably tell I'm confused :frown: Zoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew from Vista Financial Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Hi we've just moved over to Oz. We both have UK pensions with our old employers which we will decide whether to transfer when we have been here about 6 months to ensure we are definitely staying :cool:My question is though, I have read something about continuing to contribute to UK National Insurance and being able to still claim a UK state pension but I am not sure why and if we stay in Oz (which we intend to) can you still claim the UK state pension from Oz. Might be being a bit thick here, as Pensions/Supers still really confuse me, also as we have a pension with our old employers I also don't understand if you can also claim the state pension from the UK too.... Thanks for any help you can give - you can probably tell I'm confused :frown: Zoe Hi Zoe Good idea on the UK Pensions, are they market linked or final salary? If final salary are they private or gov? It is possible to top up the UK State Pension, currently 30 qualifying years are required for the full Basic State Pension however this is moving to 35 years. If you do not have the full qualifying years you will generally still get a pro-rated amount based on the qualifying years you do have ie 15 years = 50% of the Basic State Pension (BSP). It is possible to claim the State Pension from the UK whilst living in Oz and is irrelevant what other means/pensions/income you have as it is not means tested, the only downside of living in Oz is that once in payment no annual inflationary increase are paid like they would be if living in UK/EU. Topping up missing years is certainly possible and can be worthwhile however exploring what you currently qualify for in the first instance by way of a forecast is the way to go. Regards Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misstatt Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 I am wondering about these issues too. We are moving to Melbourne in December and I am currently self employed, my partner is employed. We have PR but don't know how long we may stay at this stage, we're just going to play it by ear. We're in our mid and late 40s and so have paid many years of NI contributions over the years and don't want to abandon this now in case we return and spend our retirement in the UK. I've been on the HMRC website but am as confused as before. There seems to be a difference between being employed and self employed (I've only been self employed for 2 years and previously employed) as to what NI contributions you should continue to make. I notice that Andrew mentioned a forecast but when I looked it said you can do this if you're close to retirement. Can anyone advise please? Would it be an idea to see a migration accountant? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew from Vista Financial Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I am wondering about these issues too. We are moving to Melbourne in December and I am currently self employed, my partner is employed. We have PR but don't know how long we may stay at this stage, we're just going to play it by ear. We're in our mid and late 40s and so have paid many years of NI contributions over the years and don't want to abandon this now in case we return and spend our retirement in the UK. I've been on the HMRC website but am as confused as before. There seems to be a difference between being employed and self employed (I've only been self employed for 2 years and previously employed) as to what NI contributions you should continue to make. I notice that Andrew mentioned a forecast but when I looked it said you can do this if you're close to retirement. Can anyone advise please? Would it be an idea to see a migration accountant? Thanks in advance. Hi Have a play around with this https://www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension/y it may help. You can obtain a forecast well before retirement or certainly can when you are in Australia anyway as we do all of the time for our clients. You may wish to try and make contact, this may also help https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre KR Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misstatt Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Thanks Andy ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weesquaw79 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 jumping on this thread out of interest - so many of us will still be quite young when we've migrated e.g. I am 35. I just looked at those calculators you recommended. I've worked since 19 up until 3 years ago when I moved to Oz and then stopped paying NI. Never been on benefits etc. State pension age is 68 and you get 60.32 GBP a week - is this the norm amount??? I am not sure what I am meant to be comparing/looking at here! Also...it says I've made 16 years of contribs and have 32 years left that I can pay on....question is....do I continue to make contribs and how do I do it, how much and what difference will this make?? to the 60.32 figure if any??? can I also make up the 3 years I've missed so far? Probably silly questions - sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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