Finance in older age

[Whey aye]

For those interested each year of contributions is worth £ 4.75 per week.

 

You can now make 10 years of catch up contributions possibly at class 2.

[matt796]

Thanks for the information. 

The pension changes came into effect in 2015. Prior to that I was required to do 30 years and receive it but the government made a number of changes which means retirement age and accessing it if you leave has changed.

[deanblb]

6 hours ago, Phoenix16 said:

I know I’ve been totally burying my head in the sand here but I left UK with a local government pension (27 years of contributions) that at the time was a final salary based pension final salary being 40K PA.  That was 10 years ago, never thought about retirement, never notified them of my change of address,  nevertheless thought about transferring it here?. Is it’s still worth claiming? S it worth anything?? Maybe I should let them know where I live first of all!!

 

Yes it is still worth claiming (you earned it) and it is likely to be worth more than you think especially with 27 years of contributions. There is likely to be a lump sum amount too. Have a look at https://www.lgpsmember.org/ or if you know the LGPS scheme you were in google it. Most now have online portals that will give you an update on how much pension you will get. You should be able to take the pension at 60 at the earliest. 

[rammygirl]

7 hours ago, Phoenix16 said:

I know I’ve been totally burying my head in the sand here but I left UK with a local government pension (27 years of contributions) that at the time was a final salary based pension final salary being 40K PA.  That was 10 years ago, never thought about retirement, never notified them of my change of address,  nevertheless thought about transferring it here?. Is it’s still worth claiming? S it worth anything?? Maybe I should let them know where I live first of all!!

 

Mine is a Greater Manchester Gov pension and they have recently put everything on line, previously they sent a statement in the post every year.  I can claim at 60.  I have less years in as I worked job share for some of it, then part time. It was frozen over 10 years ago.  I will still get a lump sum of around £25k and a yearly pension of around £9k at today’s rates, it will of course be taxed here but still not too shabby (depending on exchange rates).  Worth checking out, you should be able to contact them in line or give them a call.

Presently it isn’t possible to transfer this type of pension to Aussie super.

Edited June 5, 2019 by rammygirl

[Paul1Perth]

2 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

Mine is a Greater Manchester Gov pension and they have recently put everything on line, previously they sent a statement in the post every year.  I can claim at 60.  I have less years in as I worked job share for some of it, then part time. It was frozen over 10 years ago.  I will still get a lump sum of around £25k and a yearly pension of around £9k at today’s rates, it will of course be taxed here but still not too shabby (depending on exchange rates).  Worth checking out, you should be able to contact them in line or give them a call.

Presently it isn’t possible to transfer this type of pension to Aussie super.

That's pretty good would be happy with that.

[rammygirl]

34 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

That's pretty good would be happy with that.

yup.  not the same for new employees though, their deal isn't as good.  Just looked and that was frozen in 2004, time sure does fly!  still considering transferring OH SIPP though.  It will be taxed on transfer but may still make sense in the long run.  Think we may need to pay for advice to be sure though.

[Paul1Perth]

2 hours ago, rammygirl said:

yup.  not the same for new employees though, their deal isn't as good.  Just looked and that was frozen in 2004, time sure does fly!  still considering transferring OH SIPP though.  It will be taxed on transfer but may still make sense in the long run.  Think we may need to pay for advice to be sure though.

Either that or you get yourself a good accountant and don't declare it. It's a risk but you might not get looked at.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Paul1Perth said:

Either that or you get yourself a good accountant and don't declare it. It's a risk but you might not get looked at.

I'm not sure I'd bank on that. It's much harder now because everything's electronic and governments are all getting smarter about reporting international transactions.  

[rammygirl]

Yup HMRC, ATO and the banks share info.  Anyway I earn I pay, that is fair.  Mitigating tax payments is OK avoidance isn’t. 

Remember all those people in the UK who used a fancy (supposedly HMRC approved) tax avoidance scheme.....they are now being chased for many thousands.  

I like to keep it simple and honest, that way I sleep at night.

[Nemesis]

On 04/06/2019 at 16:51, Paul1Perth said:

Presumably though, if you spend some of your super and get below the threshold the Aus pension will kick in.

Asset test is $387,500 for a couple not counting your home, to receive a full pension.

The income test for a couple living together has to have an income of $3096.40 per fortnight for the pension to stop.

I think that's pretty generous and your super must be worth a lot. 

Go on a couple of holidays, that should fix it.

My super is very small as I emigrated late in life and had to start from scratch. Not like a 20-30 year old with plenty of time to build it up. Had my husband been granted a visa then he (of a similar age) would have had virtually no super and would not have worked long enough to qualify for the ozzie pension. Couple that with not being able to afford medical insurance due to migrating late, just a non starter.

On balance we should be better off back home. 

[Phoenix16]

13 hours ago, rammygirl said:

Mine is a Greater Manchester Gov pension and they have recently put everything on line, previously they sent a statement in the post every year.  I can claim at 60.  I have less years in as I worked job share for some of it, then part time. It was frozen over 10 years ago.  I will still get a lump sum of around £25k and a yearly pension of around £9k at today’s rates, it will of course be taxed here but still not too shabby (depending on exchange rates).  Worth checking out, you should be able to contact them in line or give them a call.

Presently it isn’t possible to transfer this type of pension to Aussie super.

Thank you! I do have some really old paperwork that’s been shoved in a drawer for many years but it will link up the gaps to enable me to get on top of this and up to date with where it’s at.  Fingers crossed I can access it at 60 and it’s a nice enough nest egg to begin to consider  the drive round OZ in a camper trailer hubby so dreams of!!!

[Ken]

16 hours ago, Nemesis said:

My super is very small as I emigrated late in life and had to start from scratch. Not like a 20-30 year old with plenty of time to build it up. Had my husband been granted a visa then he (of a similar age) would have had virtually no super and would not have worked long enough to qualify for the ozzie pension. Couple that with not being able to afford medical insurance due to migrating late, just a non starter.

On balance we should be better off back home. 

There is no work requirement to qualify for the Ozzie pension. You can already be retired when you arrive in Australia (but you won't get the pension immediately as you still have to complete 10 years of residency and even after that there are asset and income tests).

[Nemesis]

4 hours ago, Ken said:

There is no work requirement to qualify for the Ozzie pension. You can already be retired when you arrive in Australia (but you won't get the pension immediately as you still have to complete 10 years of residency and even after that there are asset and income tests).

Exactly. Getting PR at nearly 60 s ot a good start!!

[Slean Wolfhead]

On 04/06/2019 at 17:31, Paul1Perth said:

Close to retirement myself Bob. Would have been nice to retire a lot earlier though. 

I was 65 last December and got a letter from the UK pension office as my UK pension kicked in at 65 and 3 months. Pleasantly surprised with what I got as we emigrated in 92 and didn't pay the extra to get a full pension. I also get some fro. The NCB and Ferranti pension schemes.

My wife has started getting her NHS one too. 

We are both working part time at the moment and it's OK. 

I'm considering pulling the pin altogether soon though as the Aussie pension starts at 65 and 6 months and I've done a few calculations to find we should still get a fair bit, even with super payouts.

So how does that work? Your UK state pension is fixed and not index linked, so would the Aussie one increase as your British one became worth less over time?

[Slean Wolfhead]

On 06/06/2019 at 01:26, Phoenix16 said:

I know I’ve been totally burying my head in the sand here but I left UK with a local government pension (27 years of contributions) that at the time was a final salary based pension final salary being 40K PA.  That was 10 years ago, never thought about retirement, never notified them of my change of address,  nevertheless thought about transferring it here?. Is it’s still worth claiming? S it worth anything?? Maybe I should let them know where I live first of all!!

 

It could be worth an awful lot so i would definitely tell them and see if you can get a current valuation.  You probably can't transfer that into your Aussie super until you retire since the rule changes a few years ago.

Also, with 27 years contributed (and assumedly 27 years of NI contributions as well) , with the current UK full state pension being raised from 30 to 35 years required NI contributions, you could apply to backpay the 8 years of NI contributions to be eligible for a full UK state pension from 67.  If they allow you Class 2 rates, that's around £1200 for the extra 8/35 portion.  It's a very good investment if you don't die !

 

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Slean Wolfhead said:

So how does that work? Your UK state pension is fixed and not index linked, so would the Aussie one increase as your British one became worth less over time?

Yes it would

[Paul1Perth]

4 hours ago, Slean Wolfhead said:

So how does that work? Your UK state pension is fixed and not index linked, so would the Aussie one increase as your British one became worth less over time?

It's not easy to work out as there are 2 criteria that the Aussie pension looks at, assets and income. The government site is pretty good though but you have to work through each bit.

If you own your home, don't have investement properties and have average amount of assets you should be OK. The income test would apply but it's pretty generous for when pension cuts out altogether.

It does adjust according to income from other sources so if you have a really good super amount then that affects how much pension you get, if any.

Most of my friends who've retired don't get any pension as they seem to have investment properties and land. They moan a bit but I would like to be in their shoes. They all seem to be doing OK with long holidays abroad or they take off in their caravans to Ningaloo or Warra station for the winter.

[Marisawright]

10 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

It's not easy to work out as there are 2 criteria that the Aussie pension looks at, assets and income.

Here's the calculator.   You can try punching in different possible figures and see where it gets you

http://www.yourpension.com.au/APCalc/

[Paul1Perth]

4 hours ago, Slean Wolfhead said:

It could be worth an awful lot so i would definitely tell them and see if you can get a current valuation.  You probably can't transfer that into your Aussie super until you retire since the rule changes a few years ago.

Also, with 27 years contributed (and assumedly 27 years of NI contributions as well) , with the current UK full state pension being raised from 30 to 35 years required NI contributions, you could apply to backpay the 8 years of NI contributions to be eligible for a full UK state pension from 67.  If they allow you Class 2 rates, that's around £1200 for the extra 8/35 portion.  It's a very good investment if you don't die !

 

We thought about paying the extra NI to get a full pension but in our case decided it wasn't worth it as the Aussie one would just reduce. Gets complicated too as it depends on exchange rates.

[Marisawright]

1 minute ago, Paul1Perth said:

We thought about paying the extra NI to get a full pension but in our case decided it wasn't worth it as the Aussie one would just reduce. Gets complicated too as it depends on exchange rates.

It doesn't reduce by an exactly equivalent amount, though.  So you still end up better off.  

Edited June 11, 2019 by Marisawright

[Paul1Perth]

17 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

It doesn't reduce by an exactly equivalent amount, though.  So you still end up better off.  

We put the money into our mortgage when we had extra. You never know how long your going to be around

Planning a long time yet. Spending some on having holidays whilst we are both still fit enough.

[Phoenix16]

On 11/06/2019 at 05:31, Slean Wolfhead said:

It could be worth an awful lot so i would definitely tell them and see if you can get a current valuation.  You probably can't transfer that into your Aussie super until you retire since the rule changes a few years ago.

Also, with 27 years contributed (and assumedly 27 years of NI contributions as well) , with the current UK full state pension being raised from 30 to 35 years required NI contributions, you could apply to backpay the 8 years of NI contributions to be eligible for a full UK state pension from 67.  If they allow you Class 2 rates, that's around £1200 for the extra 8/35 portion.  It's a very good investment if you don't die !

 

Thank you so so much for this advice, I definitely want to pursue it, whilst I still feel 21 and invincible the reality is I’m not and retirement age is much nearer than I would like to think!!! Could I ask you, how do I begin to start to apply for this? Could you point me in the right direction? And once again, so many thank you’s Xxxxxx