British expats and the state pension

[scobienz]

I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating now and again.

If you’re a British expat, it’s really important to keep up with NI contributions even while you are overseas because these will earn you extra years that go towards your state pension.

Remember - you need 35 qualifying years for a full state pension.

As an expat it will only cost around £120 for a qualifying year while you are overseas (caveat - that’s what I paid a few years ago but it might have changed) and you can pay every year quite simply. You can always pay up to five years that you might have missed.

Keep a track of your state pension expectation and how many qualifying years you have and how to make payments from overseas on the U.K. government’s pension website.

[Fred Edwards]

Good advice. .. I must say I'm looking forward to collecting my pension in some tropical paradise somewhere when it comes.

[scobienz]

There are some countries - Thailand for example - where the U.K. state pension is fixed and never rises. Retirees in flipland get the annual rise.

I have no idea what happens in Cambodia.

It’s also worth pointing out that the more simplified pension now is £175 per week and goes up by the greater of U.K. inflation, wage inflation or 2.5 per cent per annum.

Not a fortune, but worth having if you can spare the couple of quid a week now.

[spitthedog]

I'll have to get paying this seing as i'm working in Oi'land.

I presume the qualifying years are counted regardless of when you earned them?
(Can be years ago, and don't have to be consecutive?)

And you can pay a lump sum giving you a max of 5 qualifying years??

Cheers

[scobienz]

Correct spit. The qualifying years don’t have to be consecutive. If you check your record on the website it will show you all the years you’ve accumulated to date - for most people that started at 16 and includes payments made on your behalf as a student and in periods of unemployment. And of course it shows the gaps.

You can pay up to a maximum of five missing years, but I think they have to be relatively recent. I missed a chunk of years in the 1990s which I can’t make up but I’ve repaid as many as I can from recent expat years. In fact I did that while I was still in Cambodia.

Point of order: if you don’t have 35 years at retirement you will still get some pension (providing you have a minimum of ten years) but it will be prorated.

It’s very easy to get an uptodate record of where you are.

[v12]

Unfortunately for abroad UK pensioners, the GBP is going down the drain more and more, now the highlights of Boris his adventures become visible......

[v12]

And yes, if you are from a Western country with a decent pensioning system and did build up a majority of counting years, it can we very worthwhile to keep that going for a fully qualified pension.

[ReasonstobefearfulP3]

I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating now and again.

If you’re a British expat, it’s really important to keep up with NI contributions even while you are overseas because these will earn you extra years that go towards your state pension.

Remember - you need 35 qualifying years for a full state pension.

As an expat it will only cost around £120 for a qualifying year while you are overseas (caveat - that’s what I paid a few years ago but it might have changed) and you can pay every year quite simply. You can always pay up to five years that you might have missed.

I think it is more like £800 per year

and it goes up every year so back pay the older ones first

Edit: depends on if you are paying class 2 or class 3

[ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ]

I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating now and again.

If you’re a British expat, it’s really important to keep up with NI contributions even while you are overseas because these will earn you extra years that go towards your state pension.

Remember - you need 35 qualifying years for a full state pension.

As an expat it will only cost around £120 for a qualifying year while you are overseas (caveat - that’s what I paid a few years ago but it might have changed) and you can pay every year quite simply. You can always pay up to five years that you might have missed.

I think it is more like £800 per year

and it goes up every year so back pay the older ones first

Nowhere near that. It’s in or around £12 per month for me. I pay annually.

[ReasonstobefearfulP3]

I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating now and again.

If you’re a British expat, it’s really important to keep up with NI contributions even while you are overseas because these will earn you extra years that go towards your state pension.

Remember - you need 35 qualifying years for a full state pension.

As an expat it will only cost around £120 for a qualifying year while you are overseas (caveat - that’s what I paid a few years ago but it might have changed) and you can pay every year quite simply. You can always pay up to five years that you might have missed.

I think it is more like £800 per year

and it goes up every year so back pay the older ones first

Nowhere near that. It’s in or around £12 per month for me. I pay annually.

Depends on the class

The rates for the 2020 to 2021 tax year are:

£3.05 a week for Class 2
£15.30 a week for Class 3

or class 2 = 158.60

class 3 = 795.60

[scobienz]

This thread was started for the purposes of the state pension. You need only class two contributions to qualify for the pension.

I’m not sure what extra benefits class three give you. Clearly that’s a cost benefit analysis you would have to take for yourself.

I was advised to pay class 2 only.

[violet]

So, the maximum a person can pay is 5 years? I have not paid in 12 years.

I came close to it a few years ago due to a scobienz post on the topic. Not sure it is worth it now

[scobienz]

Violet, Whether it is worth it or not depends on your circumstances such as how many qualifying years you have already. I lost - and couldn’t repay - around 8 years but it was worth repaying what I could, especially when you consider you can still accrue extra years by paying next to nothing going forward.

But without knowing your circumstances I couldn’t comment more than in general terms. Your age, QYs already, other financial obligations will all feed into it.

But I see little harm in taking ten minutes to explore what your situation is and what can be done.

[YaTingPom]

You can pay the previous years, which is five I think, but if you’ve still got qualifying years (as in you’re not yet 67) then you can still pay those years.

So I’ve got 15 odd qualifying years to go so even though I’m not working I can pay NI contributions to give me a full pension.

Incidentally scooby how do you pay, via CC or can you do it via your Gateway thing?