Porth

I have seen the UK and France for 18 years and here for just some months.

Will soon be packing our bags for France it compares not necessarily on price but it does have benefits and health is outstanding.

But folks make your beds etc.

We left France and now are going back there. Spain is not for us. It is of course for thousands and thousands of others so no right and wrong way.

Final thought I went to a French owned little restaurant in Javea the other day the owner was English his wife French.

He complained you could walk about in Javea Park and not speak a word of Spanish. As in all day breakfasts two for one and happy hour.

Wherever you are please enjoy

Back to La Rochelle I am afraid.

casa del sol

How about six months here six months there and two weeks travelling from here to there.

dorishaslop

Crikey, I know I live out in the sticks but my electric bill for two months was 66 euros.. I'm loving living out in the campo....living off the land but with supermarkets etc within driving distance... beautiful..

johnnyone

That's not correct. There is a guaranteed minimum income, so pensions are topped up to that if necessary. On top of that there is relief on rents, council tax etc.
You may not be rich but you do not need to live in poverty.

cricketman

The difference is that the maximum state pension in the UK is just 460 pounds per month, this gets topped up to 600 pounds per month on the minimum income guarentee - this sounds like living in poverty to me

In Spain, the state pension ranges from 630 euros (minimum) to 2,500 euros (maximum) per person, so is much more generous.

Domino

please remind me again as to how much Spain pays in Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and also at what level their tax free allowance starts.

but you are right, although I have said it several times on this forum - the Uk has one of the lowest pension rates in Europe.

angiescarr

Oh dear Doris. Better read the Electric sun thread!

cricketman

Well, you only get a pension in Spain if you have worked, so they are generous to those people who have put the work in, but as we know the benefits to the unemployed or those who work illegally are not good

scampicat

But if you are on any amount of the means-tested top-up, (Pension Credit), you get all your rent and Council Tax paid, so you have to include that too. I personally think that is very generous. Also don't forget the other freebies UK Pensioners get, such as free prescriptions, free bus pass and free eye tests.

cricketman

What rent? Most pensioners own their own homes

Or are you telling me that I could rent out a 5k per month penthouse and the council would pay for it?

It is difficult to compare because the models are so different

I am looking from the point of view of a middle to high earner. In the UK I would have to contribute a lot of money to a private pension in order to get a decent pension, but in Spain I can rely on the state pension, as long as I contribute a good amount of social security in the last 15 years.

However, I am still 35-40 years from reaching the pension age, so I'm sure all of these rules would have changed by then!

jackytoo

That's in theory, the fact is that unless they were funcionarios etc. most never had the chance to build up those credits. Sur published a report a few years ago with interviews and at that time the norm was 400 t0 500 pm. Take a single pensioner in the UK. Pension topped up to £600pm, if they pay rent of £400pm this is paid plus council tax and as someone mentioned there are other freebies like dental treatment.

Lynn R

But as I mentioned earlier in the thread, what about those pensioners who have just enough in private pensions and/or savings to prevent them qualifying for Pension Credit? They have to pay for everything themselves, full Council Tax etc. They are the ones who find it the most difficult, I think. It must be quite galling to think that by having tried to make provision for their old age they have ended up effectively in a worse position.

jackytoo

True, typical benefit trap. Doesn't encourage anyone to be prudent and provide for their old age. Saw one in the news who was just a few pounds per week over the limit. Although the stuff that came with our council tax bill said a couple earning £300 pw could still be entitled to a reduction.

cricketman

I know that people on here say my wife's family isnt typical, but my parents in-law and all their 8 or 9 siblings have been fully employed over the past 40 years or so, and have good state pensions. They weren't all funcionarios, also bank managers, lawyers, newspaper editors, social care workers etc

There was pretty much full employment in Spain in the 60s and 70s when today's pensioners got their jobs, and jobs were for life. Maybe the South is different because parts of Andalucia in the early 70s were still third world

johnnyone

What about Serps and SP2.