Perth

No, haven't got anything back from them like that, not yet anyway. I sent an email asking if I was eligible after they had sent me my pension forecast, and they said yes, and I should send in this application. So it's just an application at this point, even though they had said yes in an email, I still had to apply on paper. The form did ask me how I wanted to pay, but not how much I would have to pay since that would be dependent on how they respond to my application.

Mummy in the foothills

They sent the letter as a reply to the application that you down load fill in and send back to them. Have another read, front and back see if it says how much for each year, and the account numbers to send it to.

This is the form to fill out to find out how much to pay and where too.
www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/64-8.pdf

Perth

This wasn't the form I filled out (this is to authorise an agent?). Not sure what I filled out now, but I know I have a copy somewhere. Will look for it in the morning. Thanks!

judesM

hello all! I have about 10 years full time contributions in UK. Have not paid anything into voluntary NI payment after I left UK.(didnt know about doing that!) I have about 9 years work in US paid SS contributions.

Would you recommend I should start paying voluntary contributions to NI now?

judesM

thanks for any help. I just stumbled across this thread and was completely unaware of the reciprocal combination benefits. I have been trying to understand the information from both governments but I must be really dense!

nun

If you can pay Class 2 voluntary NI I'd go ahead and do it, and pay 6 years in arrears too. Class 2 are a fantastic deal and voluntary NI is not used in WEP calculations.

Bud the Wiser

Not sure if this is the right pension thread, there are so many of them now. But here goes.

Is it worth claiming the US pension at 62 or waiting until 66, knowing that at 66 I will also be eligible for a UK pension. In other words, will the UK pension make up any or all of the difference from what I can claim in the US at 62 ( $903 )& 66. ( $1381 ) Currently the difference would be $478 pcm.

My ( wishful? ) thinking is that, if I start claiming early at 62, by the time I reach 66 I will be eligible to receive $903 + UK state pension, with a reduction of ??? for WEP.

dunroving

There's a thread called something like UK and US pension that gets into all of this - it might be on page 2 or 3 by now as it hasn't had any posts for a while.*

I'm not really sure what you are asking in the bit that I have bolded, but I think re: WEP, there is an online modeller that shows you how much SS you will use when UK state pension kicks in. You just have to get your own calculator out to figure out whether it's worth taking SS at 62. You have written everything in dollars but of course you get UK state pension in ££, and depending on the ££/$$ exchange rate, your UK state pension could be more, or less than you have written as a $$ amount.

For people who have paid SS for a long time the WEP reduction is negligible, which argues against taking SS at 62 to avoid WEP. If you have about 30 years of SS, WEP doesn't affect you at all. If you have close to 30 years, WEP doesn't affect you very much.

Bear in mind that WEP is based on the $$ amount of your UK state pension at the time you start receiving UK state pension, and doesn't change thereafter. So if the $$ is especially strong when you are 66, it would make sense to take your UK state pension then. If the dollar is especially weak when you are 66 (say, $2 = £1, as it was in 2007-ish), and it looks like the $$ will strengthen in the following years, it may be worth postponing receiving your UK state pension.

* Here is the thread I was referring to, about the whole UK/US pension, WEP thing - it was on page 5.

Bud the Wiser

Thanks Dunroving. I'll post any further questions/thoughts in that thread. Still haven't worked out if it's better to claim US at 62 when four years later I'll have both countries pensions to take into consideration.