Presumably many if not all of those who post here will one day be eligible to claim a British pension based on contributions up until you left for Canada.

I don't know if this topic comes up here or not but for those who do not already know, it is important to know that when you claim it, the amount you first received is the amount it will always be. It will not rise with the cost of living as it would if you remained in the UK.

You might wish to look at this website.

www.britishpensions.bc.ca

And to clarify further, this affects British *state* pensions. Not private or company pensions.



Jeremy

Yes ridiculous isnt it. I belive if you move to the States you will get all increases!! Doesnot make sense does it. It may well may you to defer drawing your pension until later ifyou can afford it. My husband will be 65 in February and will probably not draw his pension until later.

Really? Do you get any kind of pension from Canada or the US if you move there? If not then that does seem unfair, if you do then I don't really see why you should get much of a pension at all if you aren't there paying taxes let alone rises in line with a country you don't even live in.

I am referring to your UK pension. You are eligible for that when in Canada but it will be frozen at the rate when you left the UK, if you subsequently return to the Uk it will revert to the rate applicable at that time. Presumably if you work in Canada before retirement age you will pay into Canadian scheme and be eligible for both?

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flashman, didn't you read this part of the text you pasted?

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Your pension is paid by the UK if you have paid into it in the years before you go. In my case it is 65% of the total pension I would get if I stayed in UK and continued to pay in. I believe that Canada has a reciprocal arrangement with the UK, so you could continue to top up the pension via the Canadian system.

I don't believe you would get a pension from Canada or the US unless you paid into it whilst you were over there.

I hope you understand Bethan2 that even if you are able to continue to contribute/top up your UK pension, the issue is that the amount you will be paid is frozen once you start claiming it. It isn't about the percentage of the total that you will be entitled to.

So let's say you worked and contributed for 20 years in the UK. You then moved to Canada and worked and contributed to a Canadian government pension for 20 years. You then retire and let's say your first payment from the UK is £200 per month and your first payment from the Canadian pension is $400 per month. Each year the Canadian pension will increase in line with inflation. The UK pension will not! Yet if you were living in the UK it would.

The point is that if you retire in some countries it will increase with inflation while if you retire in some other countries it will not. Canada is one of the countries in which it will not. Very simply put, you will be discriminated against based on which country you retire in.

Brodel, Old Age pension payments are paid based on your lifetime contributions. If you have paid it you are entitled to a pension. The AMOUNT of that pension will vary depending on how much and for how long you paid in. That's fair. However saying that if you remain in the UK or move within the EU or to the USA or Barbados (and others) you will receive increases in line with inflation while if you move to Canada, Australia (and others) you will not receive increases, means that you are being discriminated against based on your choice of country and NOTHING ELSE.

As for Canada, yes you get a pension from Canada if you have worked there and contributed. Basically the same system as in the UK. HOWEVER if you decide to retire outside of Canada, you get the exact same pension with increases in line with inflation WHEREVER you decide to retire.

I asked this question elsewhere is it worth carrying on payment into the British National Insurance (NI) system, does anyone do this.

Yes I do understand that - it was an important point to mention. I was simply replying to the poster who suggested that it wasn't fair one should get a pension to point out that I'd paid into it and I was entitled to it.

I have long since stopped expecting to get anything from the UK government. I've got 23 years to go before they would pay me anything, I doubt there will be much left in the pot by then.

As for continuing NI payments ... no thankyou.

I would say under current conditions regarding this freezing of your pension, no it isn't worth it. If that condition changes in the future then it might be worth it depending on how many years and at what salary level you have contributed in the past. If this freezing of pension payments changes you can always write to the pension people in Newcastle and ask what it would cost to top up your pension and what you could expect as a payment when you reach an age to claim it.

The likelyhood is that if you are say 45-50, it might be worthwhile while if you are 25-30 it wouldn't.

I wish when Paul did that he at least left the URL of any link behind.

Here is is

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/ma...27/npens27.xml