CadburysFingers

I know, its probably been done to death, but I have searched previous threads and didnt find what I was looking for.

Quick sentence about our situation, then it may help with the answers. We had our own business in Uk sold it in 2004, and moved here, also in 04, still pay our quarterly Nat Ins payment of £ 27.30 each, for a self-employed person. I recently learned that we are now paying the wrong type of payment, what should we be paying? I have just ordered all the forms from Newcastle, to update our records, but need to know what to put on them.

Cheers if you can help, I am sure there are many of you in a similar situation, who pay Nat Ins from here in Aus.

sandradee

I would be grateful for the info on this topic too, as we are in a similar position. Hope someone can help.

CadburysFingers

*bump*

Someone must know............hopefully

SonicBird

Am I missing something? Why are you continuing to pay National Insurance in the UK if you're living in Oz? Are you on a temp visa?

Sonic x

ABCDiamond

People paying the UK NI contibutions, for the sole purpose of gaining the benefit of a UK pension payable to them in Australia, should keep an eye on the UK National pensions debate

It quotes:

Views will be sought on a range of options including the following:

Correcting inequalities in the state pension system
Working longer
Raising the state pension age
A new national workplace pension saving scheme
The role of the state, employers and individuals in pension provision
Auto-enrolment in pension saving schemes
The level of the basic State Pension

The section highlighted by me, may end up similar to the Australia system, and could be the beginning to a similar pension scheme where a government pension is only paid to those in need.

This is pure speculation on my part at the moment. But who knows ?


Obviously it may be worth paying, if there is a chance of returning to the UK later.

I dont know how much people should pay etc.

ABCDiamond

Have you read form NI 38 Social Security abroad - National Insurance contributions ?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/nico/ni38.pdf

geordie downunder

I have followed things for a few years as I have no hope of any pension from the oz govt due to means testing,it should be borne in mind that the UK system is a pay into system ,by the various NI contributions,the oz system does not have this and pensions are paid from general revenue (tax).I think it would be a brave govt in the UK to suddenly say you have lost all of those NI contributions and now need to provide for yourself .For the UK you can backpay contributions for 6 yrs and need 44 yrs for a full pension or 11 yrs for around 26%,I have all the paperwork but cannot be bothered to hunt it out.E-mail longbenton (N/cle) and they will send you information ,ask for a pension forecast.The yearly increases in the UK pension are not given to people in commonwealth countries so if you retire now on say 100 quid a week it will stay at that unless things change,some pensioners in S/africa have been trying to have it index linked for a while now but it fails in the UK courts..The super system here is crap,the money goes into the stock market and various fixed interest/property/bonds ,the diversification mantra all the experts mindlessly repeat .I would urge anyone to begin taking an interest in financial things to prepare for the future.the stock exchange (www.asx.com.au ) has online investing classes free.They also have lunch time lectures in each capital city twice a month on tuesdays.As an indication of returns that can happen the Westfield shopping towns you see have been the best performing stock on the asx,a $1000 investment in 1960 is worth around $200 million now with all dividends having been re-invested.Good Luck.

CreditCardKing

If you are near retirement age then its probably worth making the NI payments but if you are 30 years away then don't waste your money. The UK pension of the future will most definately be means tested and you would likely have to be living in the UK to claim it, much the same as in Australia. The UK government will likely abolish the National Insurance system and just increase taxes to compensate the loss.

CadburysFingers

Thanks for the replies, any other contributors more than welcome, I am 42 and my wife 36, so still debating whether or not its a good idea or not. Is there anyone out there currently paying their voluntary UK pension, and if so how much is it? We do love Australia, and really cant see ourselves ever living in the UK again, but you never know, hence our dilemma.

ABCDiamond

The weekly Class 2 contribution rate for 2004-2005 was £2.05, whereas the weekly Class 3 contribution rate was £7.15

Retirement



The Australian Superanuation system is very similar to a UK private pension system, both have the funds invested in stock markets, cash investments etc etc.

The main difference is that Australian Employers must contribute at least 9%, on top of your salary, into it for you. (If you earn over $450 per month)
You also have the option to add extra payments into it.