Pulaski

A UK state pension is totally accessible from the US, and in fact is even better than if you were living in/ acessing your state pension from countries such as Canada, Australia, NZ, India, South Africa, etc, as a UK state pension paid in the US gets the annual increases, unlike the other countries where it is frozen.

Just to be clear, it is perfectly possible to qualify for full, un-WEPed, US SS payments and a full UK state pension without either one impacting the value or qualification for the other. That is what I am on track to do!

And both are paid irrespective of which country you are living in when you draw them. Also both can be deferred and allowed to further increase, so you might claim one if you only need lower income for a few years, and allow the other to keep on growing.

If you don't/ won't have 30 years of SS contributions then you will have to grapple with WEP, and it may be advantageous to draw and spend any UK pension funds (technically "pensions paid for with earnings not assessable for SS contributions") before claiming your SS, as non-US pensions are included in your WEP calculation, unless the account is fully drawn and spent when you start drawing SS.

Cjnorth1959

Do you have to pay taxes ?

durham_lad

Yes, and if you are resident in the UK then only UK taxes, it is not taxed by the IRS.

Cjnorth1959

Thank you for replying much appreciated

Revans18

This post is very helpful, thanks to all! I have a related US SS question. I lived in the US for over 40 years, worked and know that I will qualify for SS benefits. I moved back to the UK about 2 years ago and am working, I know I have to work at least 10 years to qualify for a UK pension. I am 56 years old. If I want to start receiving US SS benefits at age 62, will they be reduced if I keep working my UK job? I know that benefits are reduced if you keep working in the US until a certain age (maybe 70?). I can’t find this information on the SSA website. Anyone know or know where I could find out?

dunroving

You haven't said whether you are a USC or PR. I'm a UKC, non-USC, non-US PR living in the UK, and I started receiving SSA benefits (pension) at age 62. I'm pretty sure that prior to reaching US retirement age (66 for me, I think) if I worked over a certain number of hours in a month, I would lose SSA pension completely for that month. (I'm now over US retirement age, so assume it no longer applies to me). I have no idea how the month is counted (calendar month, maybe?), nor how they would know if I'm working, but that's a separate discussion.

Update: I just found the following in a US Social Security.gov publication titled Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States: "The foreign work test. If you are receiving Social Security benefits and are younger than full retirement age, we will withhold your benefits for each month you work more than 45 hours outside the United States and you are not subject to U.S. Social Security taxes."

durham_lad

Good find, I also recalled something like this. Actuarially it doesn’t matter if you take SS at 62 or 66 so I would hold off starting SS if one plans to work.

Revans18

Thank you, this is very helpful. I’m both USC and UK citizen. The publication answers my question. 😊

Revans18

Yes, this was the answer I needed. If I want to retire at 62, I can’t work more than 45 hours per month, or I will lose the SS for that month. I will now need to decide if it’s worth it for me to keep working after age 62.

Lion in Winter

Random question - planning ahead. Will I be able to apply online to get my SS paid in the UK, or will I have to actually visit an embassy or something?

durham_lad

My wife applied online through the US Embassy in London. Then it was a phone call from them to her and they submitted the application. I will be doing the same myself later this year. It is the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) that handle it.

https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/federal-benefits/

Quote:

The London Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) provides services for the Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Personnel Management, Railroad Retirement Board, Medicare, and Department of Labor. The largest program is the Social Security Administration.