cricketman

That's not completely true

250-260 euros is the minimum monthly social security payment and entitles you to the minimum state pension (of around 600 euros per month). This is meant for people who earn less than 10k euros per year.

If you earn over around 35k euros per year then the social security payment will be around 700 euros per month. That is the maximum amount and entitles you to the maximum state pension (of around 2,500 euros per month).

The complication is that the self-employed (autonomos) can choose the level of their social security payments (between 250-700 euros per month). So most opt for the minimum payment. This of course means they will get a low pension.

As for health insurance, thats completely up to you. Most Spaniards I know just pay cash when they need to see a consultant urgently or "jump the queue". For anything urgent or difficult you would normally better off with the state service anyway, even with the many cuts

sam54140

hi
ok so you have to pay 250 euros but you don't have to pay ever more even you make more than EUR 10K a year.
anyway a good fiscal counselor is always advised.
on hcare, ok, understood. we'll take a private health insurance anyway.
Spain is said to have quality medical services.
thanks again.

me me

You post is a bit misleading.

You make it sound that all one has to do is pay 700 euros to be entitled to 2500 a month, but you have forgotton to mention that the pension is based not only on the amount of the monthly contribution, but also the length of time the worker has been paying.

lynnxa

just to throw a spanner in the works - there have been two changes in the past few weeks

new registrations for autónomo now only have to pay 50€ a month - it's for a limited time (12/18 months I think) & after that time you have to start paying the full rate


also - a 'buy in to state healthcare' scheme has now been introduced - it's about 60€ a month per person, & is aimed at those who have no other way of accessing state healthcare

the main difference between this & private health insurance, is that there are no exclusions

sam54140

thanks lynxa. good news. i suppose you can pay that EUR60 a month and pay a private health insurance, to be super fully covered.

lynnxa

yes that's right - but I had just come back & was about to edit my post to say that I'd forgotten to add that you can't 'buy in' until you have been a registered resident for a year

so you'd still have to make other arrangements for that first year of residency

cricketman

Yes, I think the minimum amount of time you need to have been contributing has just gone up from 25 years to 35 years

I dont think that is misleading though, all state pension systems work that way

If you have worked across different EU countries then normally you get paid out in the country you were last working in. So if you worked 25 years in the UK and the last 10 years in Spain, then you would get a pension according to Spanish rules

cricketman

Is this new law across the whole of Spain?

lynnxa

yep!

http://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2013-8190

Jaques2go

I have just returned from holiday to spain - i always carry my health card with me and know of the scams where people are taken by ambulance to private hospitals so its a case of being aware that these things happen. I think remembering this is very important, especially if, like me, you hire a car.
Wonderful weather for October, was in and around Almeria, it got to around 32 degrees...................