Wanting to move back to UK I

[macalec]

I am wanting to know, if I will still get my Aussie Old Age Pension if I return to live in UK have been here 50 years but want to go home , and I know I will not get any English pension

Can anybody advise me , thank you

[Bungo]

Isn't the Australian are pension more of allow income welfare benefit? If so, I would have thought it for residents, however I am not the most knowledgeable on this and hopefully someone will be along soon to clarify. After 50 years, do you have no super?

[scuffythetugboat]

Ask Centrelink about the Australian Pension, it's better than the guesswork you'll receive on here.

 

You would get some UK pension for your years prior to 2001 in Australia. Contact the Pension Centre in the UK.

[Johndoe]

[h=2]Rules for Age Pension outside Australia[/h] You can use your Centrelink online account through myGov to tell us about your travel plans and get tailored information on how your payments could be affected.

You can generally be paid Age Pension for the whole time you are outside Australia, regardless of whether you leave temporarily or to live in another country.

However, the amount you receive may change at certain points based on how long you have been away and your personal circumstances.

If you are paid Age Pension under an international social security agreement, the amount that you receive while you are outside Australia is determined according to that agreement.

If you have returned to live in Australia within the last 2 years and you have started receiving Age Pension during this period then you cannot be paid outside Australia until the 2 year waiting period has passed. If you are affected by this rule and you travel to a country Australia has an international social security agreement with, the agreement may allow you to continue to get Age Pension.

[Guest]

I am wanting to know, if I will still get my Aussie Old Age Pension if I return to live in UK have been here 50 years but want to go home , and I know I will not get any English pension

Can anybody advise me , thank you

You can't claim an Aussie age pension from the UK there's no pension agreement between the two countires anymore. Strangely you can claim from many other countries though. However if you are already recieving it before you go you can still get it. Best contact Centrelink though and they will give you all the information. If you are nearing pension age it maybe worth waiting until you can make the claimand it's up and running before making the move.

[Marisawright]

You can't claim an Aussie age pension from the UK there's no pension agreement between the two countires anymore. Strangely you can claim from many other countries though. However if you are already recieving it before you go you can still get it. Best contact Centrelink though and they will give you all the information. If you are nearing pension age it maybe worth waiting until you can make the claimand it's up and running before making the move.

 

Chicken66 is exactly right.

 

If you're not already getting the Australian pension, then you will not be able to get it in the UK, ever.

 

If you are already receiving it, then you will continue to receive it, even if you leave the country permanently, because you meet the residency requirements.

 

Did you work in the UK at all? If you have even a couple of years' National Insurance contributions, or if you can work for a few years when you get back to the UK, you can then apply to have some of your Australian residency recognised towards a British pension. Only years before 2001 count, though. You could also make extra National Insurance contributions to "buy" extra years.

 

I hadn't lived in the UK for 35 years but I did make several years' NI contributions before I left. I have made some extra contributions and I will now be able to get the full UK pension.

[Petals]

I would really consider it. Why, because my friend has recently left and returned to New Zealand as she is a New Zealander. Its been the biggest mistake of her life and in fact it has made her seriously ill, so ill that she had to be hospitalised. I am not saying it would happen to you, we are all different but its not the same and 50 years is a long long time. She had been here nearly 50 years. Also you have to take into account the exchange rate, the Aussie dollar has been high but as you know ts been low for more years against the pound. Its likely this will happen again as its better for our exporters. I have friends who are Australian but their son lives in UK and they are retiring and going to spend the summer in UK and the summer in Aus and this seems to be a good compromise from moving back permanently.

 

Centrelink will only pay the flat pension as well, any extra payments are not payable to help with power bills etc or the payment that is paid once or twice a year.

 

My friends who returned to NZ found that they now have to pay tax which was not payable by them as pensioners here. It may be that any super or income you have will be taxable in UK whereas it is not here.

 

Good luck do the homework, know thyself. Ponds are good we are used to them.

[Lola4]

That's interesting, we are also thinking of spending 6 months a year in each country. Does any one else do this?

[Skyba]

That's interesting, we are also thinking of spending 6 months a year in each country. Does any one else do this?

 

 

 

My mom and dad have a motorbike that they spend 2 months a year driving around Europe and this year they met a couple who have a caravan in England one in Spain and a house in Australia, they spend the summer in Europe and the summer in Australia. My parents will probably look into doing this with a 5 year multiple entry parent visa once we become citizens

[Lola4]

Hi Skyba, sounds like the perfect plan. We have ping ponged many times between Australia and the UK. It seems like the best of both worlds and seasons. Are your parents retiring age?

[Chortlepuss]

That's interesting, we are also thinking of spending 6 months a year in each country. Does any one else do this?

I would love to do this - but which six months?? I love UK at Xmas, May-Jun and the Autumn.... I love Brisbane Sept- Nov and March, April, May...... There is the tricky issue of affording accommodation in both places... Perhaps we should set up our own PomsInOz house swap facility....... Sussex/Brisbane anyone?

[ramot]

I would love to do this - but which six months?? I love UK at Xmas, May-Jun and the Autumn.... I love Brisbane Sept- Nov and March, April, May...... There is the tricky issue of affording accommodation in both places... Perhaps we should set up our own PomsInOz house swap facility....... Sussex/Brisbane anyone?

 

That was our master plan originally, until I lived between 2 countries for 10 years. Might be ok for some, but I never felt settled in either country, so changed our mind before we retired to Oz. I needed to feel somewhere was home. It's an expensive option to run 2 homes, and was only viable for us as we were ex pats with accomodation paid for

We have averaged 2/3 months in UK for the past 12 years, and next year will will likely make it a month in future. It's expensive to rent, so we have rented for 1 week, kitten sitting for son this week, then renting and or visiting friends etc. already fed up with living out of a suitcase, so next year will rent solidly for a month, see son and family, plus others but stay in one place.

We have tried to house swap for the last 2 years, with no luck, the only places offered where no use to us, as we obviously want to be near our son + grandchildren in Bristol, might work if you don't mind where you swap.

Sunshine/Coast Bristol anyone!!!

[Zack]

YES YOU DO.No Problem You Don't get it all you get a percentage.Phone up Centre Link International services Phone 131673 They are so helpful.It's paid straight into your British Bank Account. Monthly

[JockinTas]

YES YOU DO.No Problem You Don't get it all you get a percentage.Phone up Centre Link International services Phone 131673 They are so helpful.It's paid straight into your British Bank Account. Monthly

 

Am I missing something? Percentage of what?

 

Oops gotcha now - pension. Got confused with another thread :rolleyes:

[Marisawright]

YES YOU DO.No Problem You Don't get it all you get a percentage.Phone up Centre Link International services Phone 131673 They are so helpful.It's paid straight into your British Bank Account. Monthly

@Zack, sorry but you're wrong. You're right IF the person is already old enough to claim the pension BEFORE they leave Australia. However, if they haven't reached retirement age yet, then there is no way to claim it from Britain, so they won't get any of it.

[Skyba]

Hi Skyba, sounds like the perfect plan. We have ping ponged many times between Australia and the UK. It seems like the best of both worlds and seasons. Are your parents retiring age?

 

 

Not yet but my dad is turning 60 on Sunday and mother is 58, my dad is semi retired because he had an accident at work about 10/12 years ago and had 18 operations on his ankle and can barely walk, they are looking at fusing it now, they know someone who has holiday cottages so once a week my mom and dad clean those (my dad has serious OCD, their house is like a show home) and take all the washing home and that earns them just enough to live and be able to have the 2 months away in the summer as they don't have a mortgage.

[Marisawright]

That was our master plan originally, until I lived between 2 countries for 10 years. Might be ok for some, but I never felt settled in either country, so changed our mind before we retired to Oz. I needed to feel somewhere was home. It's an expensive option to run 2 homes, and was only viable for us as we were ex pats with accomodation paid for

 

 

We've thought of this option too. Running two homes sounds expensive - but if we split our books and other stuff, we would need only a one-bedroom flat in each country. As you say, though, I wonder if it would get unsettling.

[JockinTas]

We've thought of this option too. Running two homes sounds expensive - but if we split our books and other stuff, we would need only a one-bedroom flat in each country. As you say, though, I wonder if it would get unsettling.

 

For years I thought it would the ideal way to go but now we are retired, we've decided it would be too expensive. My OH would only be doing it for my sake anyway as he would find it really unsettling plus he hates travelling on those long tedious flights now. I'm lucky as I have my sister and good friends I can stay with whenever I go back to the UK for a few weeks.

[Chortlepuss]

@Zack, sorry but you're wrong. You're right IF the person is already old enough to claim the pension BEFORE they leave Australia. However, if they haven't reached retirement age yet, then there is no way to claim it from Britain, so they won't get any of it.

 

So Marisa - is Ozzie pension means tested? If you stayed in Australia long enough to claim the pension and then went back to UK, would your other income streams affect what you would receive or would your status when you left Australia remain the same? If you get an Ozzie pension does this mean you have to do a tax return in Oz? Sorry for questions - but I think you are a bit of an expert on this?

[Marisawright]

So Marisa - is Ozzie pension means tested? If you stayed in Australia long enough to claim the pension and then went back to UK, would your other income streams affect what you would receive or would your status when you left Australia remain the same? If you get an Ozzie pension does this mean you have to do a tax return in Oz? Sorry for questions - but I think you are a bit of an expert on this?

 

I wouldn't say I was an expert, but here's what I know. Yes, the Ozzie pension is means-tested. As far as I'm aware, if your financial or residential circumstances change you are obliged by law to notify Centrelink - so yes, other income streams would affect what you receive.

 

Plus of course, your pension may be cut back pro rata (you only need 10 years' residence to get the full pension if resident in Oz, but you need 35 years to get the full pension if living overseas).

 

I don't know about a tax return. I haven't looked into that because we would still have money invested in Australia so will need to do a tax return anyway.

[Zack]

Well Maacalec asked the quesrtion would he get his Austalian Pension if he went back to the UK,I suppose he is getting the Australian Pension now.As he has been here 50 years. I said he would,Which is correct. He isn't asking about claiming a Aussie Pension from the UK.As he says he knows he won't get a Uk pension.So he must have checked up on that.He may not have Paid any NI stamps. But if his Aussie Pension is deemed not enough to live on,he will still get support.

[Marisawright]

Well Maacalec asked the quesrtion would he get his Austalian Pension if he went back to the UK,I suppose he is getting the Australian Pension now.As he has been here 50 years. I said he would

 

I think that's a big assumption. He could have arrived in Australia with his family as a teenager, and still be under retirement age now. That would also explain why he knows he can't get a UK pension, because he was too young to work there. That's why in my reply, I covered both possibilities - either that he's already getting it or that he isnt.