Steve_

Thought I'd mention this one because I often meet people from the UK and they're almost never aware of it:

If you are resident abroad, you can voluntarily make Class 2 NI contributions, if you are employed, or Class 3 NI contributions if you are not.

If you have at least 30 years worth of contributions you are entitled to a full UK pension when you hit retirement age (whatever that may be, they keep fiddling with it).

Basically you give your direct debit details to HMRC and they withdraw the money from a UK bank account, I can't remember exactly what Class 2 contributions are at the moment but it adds up to something like £150 a year and the current pension is around £6,500 pa, so obviously it's a hell of a deal. Essentially starting from scratch you'd get all your money back in six months from the time you qualify for the pension (although you must have three years of contributions initially to qualify to make voluntary contributions).

Class 3 contributions however are much higher, £650 pa, but still, you're likely to be better off making those voluntary contributions (depending on how many contributing years you currently have and how long you think you'll live after getting your pension obviously).

There are a couple of caveats - if you live in Canada you are not permitted to have cost of living increases (although you are if you live in the EU or the US), but even so, it's still a good deal. Also, if you have a UK bank account remember that the interest on it is subject to Canadian income tax and you must declare it on your T1. Remember also to file an R105 with your UK bank so they don't do UK income tax withholding on it.

If you're not sure how many contributing years you already have, you can obtain that information from HMRC using this form: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ca3638.pdf

More info: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/nico/ni38.pdf (it's hard to plough through but the main bit is the application form at the end, don't be intimidated, it's pretty easy once you look at the application form - it's easier to phone them if you get stuck).

The tories are talking about having some sort of link between the pension and earnings, hard to say how that will affect non-residents.

spaceace

nice, thanks for sharing

Steve_

I think I should have called this thread: "free money, apply here".

jericho

Personally, with the way pensioners are already being screwed over, I'd feel pretty guilty about paying in $150 a year, and taking out $6500.

If I was a pensioner in the UK and become aware of this I'd be screaming bloody murder.

lmartin999

This has been discussed quite a lot on the forum before and there are a number of existing threads on it.

2008orbust

It may have been on before but Steve did a good job putting it together

lmartin999

Just curious why you would feel the need to bump up a thread from nearly four months ago to make a comment which adds nothing to the discussion?

bodgerx

A possible upcoming problem due to pension reform:


The reform would be particularly good news for women, who often fail to qualify for the full basic pension because they have taken time out from work to bring up children and have not built up enough National Insurance contributions. Instead it would be based on residency in Britain.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz13P6vj2TM

CanadaJimmy

It also states:

So as long as you're a British citizen it looks like you'd still qualify. Guess we'll have to wait and see though.