Guest owdgrandad Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Hi all. This is my first post on the site, ive been looking for quite a while now. I lived in Oz for 23 years from 1970/1993 when i got divorced and went back to the UK to catch up with family . I never got back to Oz, i met a lady and we are now retired and living in France. I have two sons who are Oz born and bred and living in Melbourne, they have both been to visit me and we keep in touch via Skype.email ,etc. Anyhow the point of my posting is to make people moving back to the UK aware the the years you live in Oz do NOT give you any pension entitlement from the Govt when you retire. They pay it to a lot of countries but the UK is not one of them. I got my pension forecast from the Pension Office in the UK yesterday and i am only entitled to 21 years , the other years living in Oz dont count, which i understand but i at least thought after paying my taxes in Oz i would be entitled to my pension pro rata but its not to be. Be warned. Ps. its a good job wines cheap in France:biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Thats interesting because they take into account any English pension you receive here and if you are the recipient of a centre link pension they know about it as they are advised by the UK. Guess you would get a pension from Aus for the 23 years you were here though if that is the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Hi . Yes if i was still on Oz i would get my years i contributed in the UK paid by the UK Govt as my brother and wife who have lived in Melbourne for 30 years and are now pensioners get their UK pension pro rata. But the Oz govt ended the agreement to pay it to the UK in i think 1992, they still pay it to a lot of other countries , some which you would never imagine, ie, Switzerland, Turkey, Croatia etc, but unfortunately , for me anyway not the UK. The UK govt will pay me my pension here in France but like i say im afraid good old Oz has let me down, but hey , i wont hold that against it, i had a great life there and my memories are worth more than any money they could pay me. I remember the nights we spent on the beach at Safety Beach camping and going to the drive in at Rosebud in my VW with a couple of cans of Vic Bitter. Memories eh, wonderful.!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I dont suppose you paid into a super fund when you were in Aus did you? Because you should be due for a return on that even if you live overseas. I guess you may have lived here before the introduction of compulsory super contributions. I am not quite sure why one would expect pension contributions from one country to be transferrable to another - especially as Australia doesnt have a universal age pension scheme. I know you can pay contributions into the NI if you want to - but there is a maximum time period I think and, certainly, if you have any inkling that you would be going back to live in UK then that would be a belt and braces approach! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I dont suppose you paid into a super fund when you were in Aus did you? Because you should be due for a return on that even if you live overseas. I guess you may have lived here before the introduction of compulsory super contributions. I am not quite sure why one would expect pension contributions from one country to be transferrable to another - especially as Australia doesnt have a universal age pension scheme. I know you can pay contributions into the NI if you want to - but there is a maximum time period I think and, certainly, if you have any inkling that you would be going back to live in UK then that would be a belt and braces approach! Im not sure i understand your reply, how do people of retireable age get a pension in Oz, they have paid in to the system for all the years. I know Super is a whole different ball game but when it comes to OAP i think its a case of if you have contributed for all you working life you are entitled to an OAP. I will stand being corrected, but i thought every one was entitled to OAP. The reason one would expect it is because you have paid it in for all those years. Regards the Belt and Braces approach, im afraid you have lost me.!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Im not sure i understand your reply, how do people of retireable age get a pension in Oz, they have paid in to the system for all the years.I know Super is a whole different ball game but when it comes to OAP i think its a case of if you have contributed for all you working life you are entitled to an OAP. I will stand being corrected, but i thought every one was entitled to OAP. The reason one would expect it is because you have paid it in for all those years. Regards the Belt and Braces approach, im afraid you have lost me.!! No we dont have a universal age pension like UK. Everyone pays into a superannuation fund of some description - it is now compulsory which is why I wondered where your contributions would have been paid - you may find that you have a super fund sitting here somewhere which you can access (there are websites which claim to find your super - for a fee of course). We havent paid into a national pension fund for aeons afaik - I certainly never have since 1978 - I paid into the superannuation fund organized by my employer who happened to be a public service (thank goodness!!!). No one here is entitled to an old age pension - it is seriously means tested and a pittance at that. Your lifestyle would be far from peachy if you were able to access the aged pension benefits and then you dont actually have had to have contributed anything over the years either - it's just another Centrelink benefits payment for impoverished elderly permanent residents. So, you could find that you have a little pot of gold sitting here in Aus ready to be accessed if you can think of where your contributions were put when you were working. Often a good place to start would be the trade super funds which have been around for years. Belt and braces - I just meant that if you were emigrating to Aus and had already contributed for many years in UK then it would be worth your while continuing the contributions directly from Aus as an individual (you can do that for a few years at least) and then should you decide to retire back home you would have an assured OAP. If you dont retire back in UK you are still eligible for the pension but it is frozen at the rate at which you first claim it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 just heard on 3MP the government is giving pensioners $15.90 a fortnight increase so it appears they do pay OAP in OZ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 thanks for that Quoll, i did pay in to a super fund in my job, wow, now you have set me a task , finding it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 just heard on 3MP the government is giving pensioners $15.90 a fortnight increase so it appears they do pay OAP in OZ. Yes they do, but, as I said it isnt a universal age pension scheme but a Centrelink benefits scheme and you dont need to have paid into it. You should check this site SuperSeeker because if you put in your name and tax file number it should tell you where all your contributions went and then you should be able to access them just as if you were living in Australia. If that doesnt work for you, there are organizations which will do it for you for a fee - but try the official site first and see what you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 thanks for that Quoll, now im really getting interested. have to dig in to all my old paperwork to find my TFN. thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 No worries! Good luck with it - I would hate to see it languishing in a fund somewhere when you could be enjoying some nice beaujolais with it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BullcreekBob Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 just heard on 3MP the government is giving pensioners $15.90 a fortnight increase so it appears they do pay OAP in OZ. G'day Oh yes, Australia most definately and assuredly has an Old Age Pension. The Age pension here is available to all Aussie men over 65 and women over 63.5 (but their qualififying age is increasing to 65). The current maximum payment is $546.80 per fortnight for single people or $456.80 for a person as part of a couple. The pension is subject to an assets test. If you are a couple and your house is valued at more than $243K, your pension will drop by $1.50/fortnight so if your house is over $856K you will get no pension. If you have no house, you can have other assets worth $368K before the pension starts to drop and total assets over $981K means no pension. Theree is also an income test, again as a couple you can earn upto $240/fortnight from other sources with no los of pension, about $240/fn the pension drops by 40c for each $1 earnt. Many people are paid, and live on the Aussie OAP. A starting point for info is Eligibility rules for Age Pension If you have supperannuation (like a UK private pension) then your income from that will reduce your age pension. The pension does not allow you to live a life of luxury but it does provide a necessary safety net for those who were unable to fully save enough (in super) to cater for their old age. It is not a contributory pension, i.e. you don't need to have paid into to it for xx years to qualify, you just have to be living here, as an Aussie citizen or PR for 10 years or more. It won't be paid if you live in France, the UK etc. You must live in Aus or one of it's territories like Antartica, Rottnest or Christmas Island. HTH Bob in Bull Creek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 G`Day Bob. Thanks for that info mate , it seems to clear things up for me. As you can probably understand having 23 years of what i thought was pension entitlement having paid my taxes, only to find out i am entitled to nothing comes as a bit of a shock. Oh well , onwards and upwards ,as they say, i will survive.!! thanks again. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 G`Day Bob. Thanks for that info mate , it seems to clear things up for me. As you can probably understand having 23 years of what i thought was pension entitlement having paid my taxes, only to find out i am entitled to nothing comes as a bit of a shock. Oh well , onwards and upwards ,as they say, i will survive.!! thanks again. Keith. But you are entitled to something! All your contributions will be available to you - not the income tax you paid because that isnt how it works - really, get digging, you may be pleasantly surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest daren.wr9 Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Hello all Hypothetically,, If someone migrated to Oz...went into rented accommodation, worked their asses off for years but were still unable to buy their own property. What happens when they retire? about renting? are they kicked out expected to fend for themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moonraker1961 Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 No you apply for dingy OAP council housing lol lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Hello all Hypothetically,, If someone migrated to Oz...went into rented accommodation, worked their asses off for years but were still unable to buy their own property. What happens when they retire? about renting? are they kicked out expected to fend for themselves? There is very little by way of public housing in Australia actually, the bulk of renters are in private accommodation - there isnt enough public housing to go round. The federal government has an affordable housing initiative but it isnt like the good old council house for life. If you are incredibly hard up then you can put your name on the public housing list but the list is years and years long so you would probably cark it before you got allocated a house. The idea is that people will be self funding in their retirement and for some that means the pension but for an increasing number their super and their assets put them over the limit for the age pension so they have to make do with the super they have accrued all their working lives. If you happen to be one of the elderly that requires a nursing home then save up for the $300k bond (that's what the MIL had to pay for a nothing special rural town nursing home) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest funkyfairy Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Hi All, dont worry about your pension if you are returning to the Uk from Australai the years that you lived there before 6/04/2001 will count towards your UK pension but only if you are a perm resident of the UK, I work for the Pensions Service processing state pension applications so I can asure you that what I have said is true you can get back up from the pension service website. Sorry it doesnt help you out as you are now living in France but you can still claim your UK pension and they will take into the fact that you are divorced which can give it a little boost as long as you have not remarried that is. If you want any more info please get in touch with me Fiona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest owdgrandad Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 thanks funkyfairy. It seems like i am behind the eight ball, but hey, who cares , im happy, i had 23 wonderful years in OZ and have 2 precious sons in OZ, its not all about money, its about happiness, and i am as happy as a sand boy.I do feel bit sour on not getting what i think i am entitled to but if thats the way it is,well thats the way it is.!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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