durham_lad

FWIW, my situation is as follows.

I retired at age 55 in the USA and will get US SS at age ~67 based on 23 years of contributions. However, I worked in the UK before coming to the US and now make NI voluntary contributions. I paid for 6 missing years plus continue voluntary NI contributions even though I don't work. I will get UK SS based on 34 years at age 68. (I think it's currently age 68 but could be wrong)

Edit to add;

the payback on doing voluntary NI contributions is absolutely worth it.

not2old

lgabriel73

so you'll get both?

nun

My situation is that I am now 52 and living in the US. I left the UK 27 years with 3 years of NICs and have paid voluntary Class 2 NICs since then so that I now have 30 years of contributions, none of those are from income earned in the UK. I will continue to pay Class 2 or maybe Class 3 NI for another 5 years so that I get the max UK pension.

I have 17 years of US SS payments and 10 years working for state government where I do not pay FICA. I plan to take SS at age 70. Under current rules my US SS will be WEPed to the max extent because of my payments into the state pension scheme, not because of any UK pension i receive because non of it will be from contributions made with non-SS income. There is a move in congress to eliminate WEP.

Class 2 NICs are a fantastic deal and if you qualify to make them, do it.

durham_lad

Correct. And the UK SS (OAP) is index linked like it is in the UK. Not the case if I was living in Canada or Australia when it would be frozen.

If I move back to the UK then I would continue to receive US SS.

lgabriel73

Wow, then it really does make sense to make the voluntary contributions in the UK then so you can get both UK and US (assuming they dont change the rules before I retire in 25 years, LOL)

windsong

What do you mean it can be credited towards meeting the requirements, etc.? Are you suggesting that, in my case, 35+ years of work and SS contributions in the USA automatically give me some credit towards NI contributions in the UK?

not2old

http://www.ssa.gov/international/Agr...phlets/uk.html

a page within that link


How Credits Get Counted

You don't have to do anything to have your credits in one country counted by the other country. If we need to count your credits under the U.K. system to help you qualify for a U.S. benefit, we will get a copy of your U.K. record directly from the United Kingdom when you apply for benefits. If U.K. officials need to count your U.S. credits to help you qualify for a U.K. benefit, they will get a copy of your U.S. record directly from the Social Security Administration when you apply for the U.K. benefit.

Although each country may count your credits in the other country, your credits are not actually transferred from one country to the other. They remain on your record in the country where you earned them and can also be used to qualify for benefits there.


also in here

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/international/...countries/usa/

windsong

Not sure if I understand what I read at the link. It seems this is only for those who perhaps worked between both countries, for less than five years at a time - and therefore perhaps doesn't apply to me because I worked 35+ years in the USA.

I was hoping there was a way that all these years in the USA would count even just a little to getting something of a pension from the UK. Or, that the contributions to the USA were transferable so my pension could come from the UK and not the USA.

It seems the only way to get anything from the UK is to make the last six years' contributions.

durham_lad

Have you got an estimate of what your SS benefits will be at 35 years and compared them to what the UK OAP will be?

I think under the new rules the max UK pension at 35 years will be £144/week, or ~$12,000 / year. (at an exchange rate of 1.6).

not2old

agree, its a no brainer

suppose on the basis (using numbers) that you needed 25 years of NIC contributions to get to the max 35 years for full pension. Paying class 3 was to cost you £800/yr (as of 2017) you will have paid a total of £20,000. The weekly pension £144/wk or £7488/yr. The payback on the investment is 2 yrs 8 months.

Now suppose you paid 6 past years at class 3 = £4800 then 19 years at class 2 (£140/yr) = £2660. Total NIC payments that you made £7460.

The payback £7460/144 = 52 weeks payback

The UK currently increases the state pension yearly by 2.5%.

Work the numbers that apply to you & suggest that you get a pension statement/forecast from DWP in Newcastle

windsong

As things stand now, I should receive about $1600 a month SS from the USA after working here 37+ years. I will get nothing from the UK unless I pay in the voluntary contributions which I plan to do. I think you can only pay in six years, though, and I have another 4 years to work before 65 so that would be a total of 10 years for the UK. I will also have a company pension (private).

durham_lad

Your 35 years of US SS is worth more than 35 years of UK SS which only gets you 144 GBP/week, so I think you might be worse off trading years, plus the US is not a linear system, which is what the UK is moving to.

If you have 10 years of NI contributions you should get something like 10/35 ths of 144 GBP/week which = 41 GBP / week so should be able to calculate the payback period, and see if you think it is worth making the NI contributions.

scot47

Students do not get free credit of NI contributions. They may be working, in which case they may pay NI OR they can choose to make voluntary contributions.

Note that for contributions to count you have to make a minimum payment for that NI Year. ( = Tax Year, 6 April to 5 April

nun

I think that's true now, but for many years students did get credits. I got three NI credits between 1978 and 1980 when I was at sixth form college.