Landrover Widow

Does anyone know what happens if you move over with husband as a housewife,in respect of a pension. Presumably as you have left UK your existing UK pension would be frozen. Does your husbands tax contribute for a pension or do you have to take out your own personal pension?

Tiggs+Graz

assuming you are talking about state pension then you are still entitled to the same pension as you would be if you were living in the uk - just frozen at the time you leave the uk. If your husband and yourself are entitled to claim a couples pension in the uk then that would be the same in oz.

Tiggs

EDIT - that doesnt read quite right - it should be that you are still entitled to the same uk state pension paid from the uk wherever you go in the world - does that make more sense?!!!

Jensen Healey

I may be wrong, but I think the pension is frozen at the level it's at when you start to draw it, not when you leave the UK. (Assuming that you haven't retired yet!)

Also, you can top it up with Class 4 NI contributions (£7.80 per week I believe) to the max 39 years for a woman or 44 for a man. This will maximise what you get at retirement. Both of those ages may change to 30 quite soon if the most recent changes get passed into legislation, so if you have anywhere close to 30 years already it may be a good investment...

Muppett

I've just got a pension forecast from the UK - I think its class 3 contributions that you can make to top up your pension. They also tell you how much you need to contribute for any years you have missed e.g. we left the UK in 2003 and hadn't really thought about our state pension until now. So the forecast tells you how much you need to contribute to get up to date, it also gives you a date by when you need to pay it. It's a difficult one to decide on because from what I can gather your Australian pension will be means tested so if you already get a UK pension then your Aussie one will be reduced - please someone correct me if I'm wrong.......

apb

Assuming you work in Oz, you can pay Class 2 voluntary contributions which are much cheaper -- i think they are 2.20 a week (114 a year) for UK tax year 2007-08. Sort this out with the NI office in Newcastle before leaving -- I found them most helpful. Note that if you leave part way through a UK tax year then you may well have paid the minimum amount of NI for that particular tax year. I left in an August and had contributed enough in that tax year by then-- the lady in Newcastle pointed this out and arranged so that I paid no more NI until the beginning of the following tax year.

Note that if you dont sort out NI stuff for a bit then try to top up your record by paying back for missing years they will ask for Class 3 contributions -- and they are presently 7.80 a week. So if you are going to keep paying it is best to keep paying class 2 gradually year by year (direct debit 8.80 or 11.00 a month depending on whether its a 4 or 5 week month)

With the expected reduction to 30 years for max state pension in the UK, I've reckoned that continuing to pay is an attractive option -- especially if you've got a reasonable number of years under your belt already.

I'm not convinced about the argument about not keeping up payments as your Australian pension is means-tested. When I've looked at the figures you would have to be pretty poorly off to qualify for an Australian pension - especially now there is compulsory super payments made by employers - the number of people with so few assets that they will get a pension will surely drop dramatically. Life would be tough if one were relying on an Aussie pension. I have no intention to be dependent on getting a state pension from here so reckon continued NI payments are the way to go -- at least for me.

Muppett

Thanks apb - that makes sense. But, I thought class 2 contributions were only for the self-employed?

apb

Yes -- but for some reason I dont really understand -- if you work abroad they class you as self-employed whatever you do. In your shoes if you intend to keep your record up to date I'd get onto class 2 as soon as possible. I've been paying class 2 for three years now -- every year I expected to get a letter saying there was a mistake and I should be paying class 3 but no -- just a 'thank you' for paying a year of class 2 from abroad and letting me know the rates for the coming year. I also keep thinking that someone somewhere is going to cotton on that 114 quid for a years-worth of NI is a good deal and the rates will sky rocket. But not yet -- and I've only another 6 odd years to get to the 30 and I dont care what happens after that!

Jensen Healey

Nice one APB, useful info there.

Country Boy

I think the white paper on pensions which came out recently will drastically reduce the No. of NI contribution years you need to qualify for a full state pension (provided it goes thru parliament). You could be throwing money away.

Jensen Healey

Er, yes, to 30, see above!