The reason I quoted that 440,000 dollar figure, was that is the figure that is prescribed by people in the investment feild as a starting point for couples. I'm not 100 pct sure if that amount does leave the Aussie pension totally unscathed as a benefit. Hopefully someone will add to the thread with some advice.

Thanks for the reassurance though. It's good to hear.

Helpful answers.

I do not have a lump sum invested.
I have an NHS pension and my wife is a civil servant so will have a Civil service pension. We will also have money to invest.

My plan was to migrate and start work again but now I think we may simply retire as we should be fairly comfortable

I have already retired in the UK and do not really want to start again, on a serious basis....maybe some casual or part time.

The option not to work will give us a lot more flexibility about where we could live.

My son is moving back to Brisbane soon so I am now considering the Sunshine coast or Northern NSW. Just need to work out where the fishing is better ....and buy a boat!

G

Prompted by this thread, I've been looking into pensions and their ramifications in detail today. The rate of Government pension is 499 dollars per fortnight for a single person. For a Married Couple its 417 dollars each. A Couple is allowed 228 dollars per fortnight before the Pension incurs a deduction and up to 2328 per fortnight before it gets cut totally. Apparently its fairly easy to make sure that one gets at least a minimal part of the government pension, by adjusting the way superannuation gets drawn on. In doing this one maintains the very important concessions that go along with receiving the pension.

After spending the best part of this afternoon looking at my own circumstances I was dismayed to find, that instead of having about 9 months worth of payments to make up the minimum 10 years of contributions in the UK. That because I left school at age around 16, I have a further two years of contributions to make up the higher proportioned UK pension.... Dammit !!! (Thats assuming pension contributions dont start until the age of 18 in the UK, if someone can confirm that for me)


Anyone know what difference currently the base level of UK pension makes to the Aussie pension by any chance ?

Oh and BTW, People in the Finacial advisory feild that I know personally are quite certain, that in 14 years or so, the age at which pension becomes payable will definitely be higher than the current 65 years.

UK or OZ?

t

OZ.


Between 67 and 70 apparently.

for those likely to draw a uk pension it is looking fairly certain to rise as well although over a longer time period:

The key aspects of the proposals, the biggest shake-up of pensions for years, are:
* The state pension age for men and women will increase to 66 in 2024, to 67 in 2034 and 68 in 2044. Each rise will be phased in over two years

source: bbc

I think this has already been passed into legislation. There's a sliding scale depending on your DoB so you may be expected to wait until 66, 67 or 68.

Incidentally, there was also a White Paper recently which proposes cutting the NI requirements for a full UK pension from 44 years to 30. This has got to be good news! My pensions advisor who (coincidentally) I was talking to yesterday thinks this is almost certain to become legislated, probably by 2010.

That means that if you leave the UK with, say, 24 years of contributions (guess who!), you can elect to pay Class 2 (I think!) contributions of £7.55 per week for a further 6 years and still get a full pension at retirement.

Of course you'd have to weigh up whether this was worthwhile, and whether this might be reduced due to any other private income to see if it was worthwhile. (Not sure if it's a fixed entitlement - anyone know?)

That's currently £134 per week for a couple or £84 for an individual. If a husband and wife both have 30 years, they can claim 2 x £84. This comes to around $20,000AU pa, only $5k short of what another poster said they manage quite well on. Doesn't then take much of a private pension top-up to get by.

the basic uk state pension is not means tested - i.e. if you have paid enough ni you will recieve the pension regardless of other income.
Do remember that if you are living in oz you are not entitled to the yearly increases in pension - i.e. you will get a single rate no matter how many years you draw the pension (until you return to the uk)

t

Yeah, I know, bit of a b*****d isn't it!

Is there some sort of workaround by temporarily returning to the UK then?

I have been told (but haven't checked this officially yet) that you only have to step foot in the uk to qualify for the current rate - and this new rate would return with you to oz. I believe that this also works if you enter a country that has a reciprocal pensions agreement with the uk - so you could take your holiday and increase your pension at the same time. However it would probably cost you more in flights than you would gain if you did this every year.

t

Quite a nice bonus every couple of years if you just happen to holiday in the right country though! (And if it's correct!)

Does NZ qualify?

apparently yes:

Britain and New Zealand have a Reciprocal Pension Agreement which allows for those qualifying for British pensions to have their benefits paid into their New Zealand bank accounts by direct credit. source

i wonder why NZ does and OZ doesn't?!

EDIT: just had a quick read through and this doesn't say if you qualify for pension increases or not - definiely would need further investigation. t

You would still be better off in OZ. We work every out as we are coming up to retiring, it is a night-mare what you go though with government changes.
Pinkme.

The comment regarding upgrading State Pension entitlements on visits to the UK is very very interesting. I asked my family in Oz about it and they are not aware of this facility. Having visited the UK a couple of times this year this is of great interest to them. Can anyone confirm how you go about it? I also hopefully will be very interested...........when I achieve my CP visa!!!!!!!!!

I haven't looked into the details on this yet so please check but i believe that you contact the uk pensions service when you enter the uk and they make the adjustment for you. Not sure what they need as proof of being in the country.

tiggs