Duoduo

*** Very important for UK Expats ***

When looking at UK Pensions there is a real call to action, in the next few months to do something if you have not already.

The rules change come April 2023 and if your missed years go back before 2016 you need to act.

Top 10, action points to help you.

1. State Pensions increases to £205 a week by 2024.

2. Find out when your UK State Pension kicks in https://lnkd.in/eVWyE7y9

3. Do have a go-to Start the process online but save yourselves the stress, of trying to get past the ID, or proof of identity gateways that the HMRC has imposed on non-UK residents and go straight to the pdf option, complete, sign and send at your earliest direct to the DWP.
https://lnkd.in/eWKTrnxy

4. After you have attained your forecast, if you have gaps in your NI credits you can look to correct this, the forecasts are taking, circa 4-7 weeks at present.

5. You do not need to fund the Class 3 version. Class 2 voluntary contributions at a quarter of the cost, are allowed for Internationals and currently cost £161 for each missed year.

6. ROI, you will ask: simply for every year you buy back that equates to an extra £7.00 per week increase in your pension for life.

7. From April 2023, it will only be possible to retrospectively purchase the previous 6 UK tax years i.e. 2017-2023 at once.

8. If you have gaps before 2016 you need to hurry, as these rules change after 31 March 2023.

9. Currently, if needed you can fund missed years 2006-2016 until March 2023

It really is the best ROI you will find for your $ and you can buy your added years here: https://lnkd.in/e-ugBzPA, once you have opened up lines of communication with the DWP and not before.


This information is general advice and does not take into account investors’ objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this general advice, investors should therefore consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to their objectives, financial situation or needs.

Pulaski

Re Point 6 above, every £1 you contribute under Class 2 NI will be repaid to you in about the first seven months after you retire. .... If you make £500 of additional contributions you will be paid £500 more pension in those seven months; if you pay £1,000 your pension payments during those first seven months will be £1,000 higher.

Making Class 2 contributions, if eligible, and assuming you don't have a terminal illness, is an absolute no-brainer. ... And obviously you get the increased pension payments for the rest of your life.

Duoduo

It's refreshing to see someone else who gets how important this actually is. I've come across far too many Expat clients this year who move out to the Middle East for the tax free income and do nothing about retirement provisions. State Pension won't ever be the answer to give you a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, but it's definitely an asset worth having.

Pulaski

Absolutely! I have assembled a portfolio of diverse investments that will provide for me and my wife in retirement, and we are not dependent entirely on any one asset/ asset type. Obviously having all of our investments would be ideal (and is the likely outcome), but losing one asset would not cause us a financial catastrophe.

And Class 2 NI contributions are arguably the easiest decision because the cost is barely more than chump change.

mikemike

does class 2 require evidence of an earned income and not investment income which is class 3

Duoduo

No proof Mike, just go through the process in my first post. They will initially write back saying you need to pay class 3 usually, you just challenge it because as an expat you are entitied to pay class 2. You need to go through the process above so you know exactly how many qualifying years you have now.

Norm_uk

UK State pensions don't keep up with inflation, and governments can and do shaft people who pay into them by moving the goalposts about when they can retire.

Most expats can save and invest for themselves and their families - rental property and dividend paying shares/ETFs being the easiest way to build up a nest egg that will give financial freedom when one stops working.

Despite years of broken promises, failed efforts and ever increasing fiscal mismanagement of taxpayer's money it's amazing how anyone could trust the government with theirs and their family's future economic comfort.

N.

Duoduo

State pension is inflation linked now, was covered in the Autumn statement.

Under the triple lock, pensions are uprated by one of three measures: the annual inflation rate, average earnings growth or 2.5%.

tdrinker

There's a risk investing in a UK state pension, but there's also a risk investing in other assets. The state pension alone doesn't provide sufficient income for a comfortable retirement, so it isn't a case of investing in a state pension or other assets, but and other assets. The money invested in the state pension reduces your investment elsewhere, but it adds diversity, i.e. an additional income stream, and therefore reduces overall risk. And if you can invest in the state pension via class 2, it's a no-brainer because the payback vs. cost is huge.

christmasoompa

Not relevant to those in the Middle East though, their pensions are 'frozen' at the rate they start to receive them and don't go up with inflation - https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-state-pension

tdrinker

It increases until your retirement age (or the date you start taking it if later?), and is then frozen at that rate if you live in a "frozen" country. Therefore it's a less attractive investment if this affects you, but it's still very worthwhile if you can secure it by paying class 2, and possibly also if paying class 3 depending on your situation.

Pulaski

Your point is relevant to many countries, not just the Middle East, but even so, I would point out that the Middle East is not generally a place that people hang around in after they have retired.

Pulaski

That's harsh, and not entirely fair, when most people these days are living well into their 70's. and beyond, it is not only reasonable, but appropriate that people work a year or too longer, and anyone a decade or more from retirement would be a fool not to anticipate a further movement in retirement age before they reach retirement.

That said, show me another investment that repays 100% of your investment in about 7.5 months after you start drawing income from it, and then keeps on paying that amount every 7.5 months for the rest of your life.

Personally I have said for many years that the money I contribute in Class 2 is so little that if I were to lose out on a pension because for example it became means tested, I wouldn't be too concerned because it is a small part of my retirement savings. However if I hit hard times for some reason and retire poor, I will be very glad to have a full UK state pension securely in my pocket. ... Essentially I think of it more as insurance than savings.

shandyw

Thanks for this very useful info Duoduo, trying to find out information on the tax office website is a nightmare.

Duoduo

Your very welcome, for retirement planning every UK Expat should be looking to maximise this opportunity. Like I've said before, it won't keep anyone in luxury in the Golden years, but it will make life much more comfortable than without it.

Happy to help with any questions you might have.