Davita

I left UK at age 38 to work in Hong Kong. I started work at age 15 (cannot remember if my NI contributions started then or at age 18)....but stopped contributing when resident Hong Kong.
A financial planner in HKG convinced me to buy back 10 years contributions and continue contributing voluntarily to UK NI, which I did till age 65.
I'm now 79 and, even after I immigrated to become Canadian, I still get the UK OAP.
I reckon I've recovered all my contributions and then some....but not so sure I'd do it now. UK seems to be in some turmoil and State pensions may not be so attractive in future.

BristolUK

You've missed some great ones. He's done some brilliant ones on FIFA and Brexit among others.

Have you seen his Brexit one? You might change your mind.

Now, how do I find Orlando the Cat?

Shard

I saw a bit of his Brexit I think, but regardless can't stand the guy.

Tirytory

Thanks for the comments...

Talking to my husband, he seems more certain of our place in Ontario, but with the proviso of escaping some of the winter which I suppose sounds good in theory. . I wonder whether when you get older you yearn for home more? I think covering our bases with the U.K. State pension would seem sensible unless there is some tax/pension reason we shouldn't.

I'm not sure we have the skills or time to make the most of any money, certainly not as effectively as a good advisor would do. Given the move halfway through our life I certainly feel like we're playing catch up, and relatively older having our third child will certainly thwart plans for an early retirement. I also don't envisage following any of our children to live in a destination. I want them to go and find their own place in the world and would just like to plan to be able to visit them frequently wherever they may end up.

Thoughts for now..

BristolUK

Found him. From 2013

Investments: Orlando is the cat's whiskers of stock picking

not2old

The only thing thats entertaining about Oliver is

a) The fact that he is having his 5 minutes, and that people suck it up

b) He is just a person, a comedian by trade & makes his money from OPM (other peoples money)

c) He has a good retirement plan

d) How Much Is John Oliver Worth? (source from a google)

In 2016, John Oliver’s net worth was estimated to be $3 Million, with a salary of $2 Million Per Year. John William Oliver is an English political satirist, writer, producer, television host, actor, voice actor, media critic, and stand-up comedian. He is widely known in the U.S. for hosting Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart... [Wikipedia]

Fans, please take into consideration that we didn’t break into John Oliver’s bank accounts. The John Oliver net worth and salary figures above have been reported from a number of credible sources and websites.

not2old

you'll not know that answer till the actual times comes, with a 'lets do it now'.

On the advisor, search a few out, interview them to get a feel of 'what is right for you'

On playing 'catch up' - life is a journey, a marathon - what you do, as you have done in the past two years you could repeat many times from now till the end of your life.

Good luck with it

BristolUK

There's that fella from NS who goes to Arizona for all of it. Florida might be doable if you don't mind a mobile home, although monthly fees may put the cost up.

Perhaps just a fortnight away in the middle to break it up is enough.



On MBTTUK it seems to me to be time away is a factor rather than getting older, although obviously that goes hand in hand.

You get the odd one or two that have been away 15-20 years and looking to return, but there are a fair few posting here who have been in Canada well over 20 years and wouldn't dream of moving back.
(coming up to 12 years away for me)

Maybe it's like having a second wind...after a few years wondering/yearning about going back, if it doesn't happen you stop thinking about it. Perhaps?

macadian

Agreed....I just don't get his appeal...Mr Unfunny and somewhat irritating 😐

dave_j

[QUOTE=Shard;11998598Not sure I understand your investment strategy DaveJ. You've been frugal for many years, fine, butover the decades, have you maximised your investment growth by staying so liquid?[/QUOTE]
To be honest, We tend to be a lazy couple who have been content to save and let things ride over us. We did make a point of paying off our mortgage as quickly as possible and then saving the mortgage payments and maximising ISAs etc. Only having the one child also contributed, but the passing of TIME has been king.
These days we tend to invest in simple safe interest bearing accounts and of course we have state and employment pensions... I know that we are actually losing to inflation, but it doesn't matter at our age.

not2old

simple maths

A $1,000,000 in a zero interest account, drawing it down $1000/wk, the money will last ~20 years.

On the basis that someone is mortgage free, in decent health, getting some income from Government pensions, Occupational pensions or whatever which pay the monthly bills with some left over, then 'you are richer than you think'

Of course not everyone has a million dollars, yet the Government & financial advisors will push it that 'everyone must have at least that going into retirement'.... its all BS, or is it?

CARP & other Provincial studies as follows...

How much do we really need?

(Source: Government of Ontario) for those in Ontario. Province by Province & lifestyle likely different

-How much pre-retirement income is needed to maintain lifestyle in retirement: 50-70%

- If you make $20,000 a year: Old Age Security (OAS) and CPP will likely maintain same lifestyle even without added savings.

- If you make $40,000 a year: On top of OAS and CPP, you would likely need an extra $11,795 a year to maintain standard of living.

- If you make $75,000 a year: On top of OAS and CPP you would likely need an extra $33,329 per year to maintain lifestyle.

(Source: Government of Ontario)

bats

Retirement planning, that's a laugh. When I started work my state pension and NHS pension were to start when I was 60. then my state pension age was changed to 62. Recently they changed my pension age to 65years 8 months. They've changed the state pension by increasing the number of contributing years and making deductions for years opted out while contributing to the NHS pension. So I'm no longer eligible for a full pension and not enough notice was given to make other arrangements.

Bah bloody humbug. I'm retiring next month, we can't really afford it but I just physically can't do my job anymore

not2old

Tough one is that Bats, bloody tough.

Will you be getting an occupational pension from your Canadian employer, as well as, will start collecting your CPP early?

Good luck in retirement

BristolUK

I had an offer of an ATM card worth $5.8m last week.

But I'm holding out for a deposit in excess of $20m. I expect one very soon.

not2old

how does that work?

That would be nice eh!, doing a balance transfer of $20 million, cashing it out (transfer it to a Panama or Isle of Man account), then declaring bankruptcy

One can only dream