Rosnanda

I am about to apply for UK Stay pension. Is the exchange rate for paying it directly into a US bank account determined at the time of each payment?
Is there any advantage to opting for quarterly over monthly payments?

Nutmegger

Yes, re the exchange rate. I have a very minimal UK pension, so opted to receive it quarterly. If you are talking about more money, you may want to receive it more frequently.

Rosnanda

Thanks for the info.
It seems easy enough to apply by phone, and can be done 4 months prior to eligibility date

excpomea

I have both of my military pensions paid direct into my US account.
Exchange rates are very favorable and no extra charges.
But, the $ amount varies month to month based on the rate.
Some years I'm $200 up, some years $200 down .

TerryGoX

I have just started to receive my UK pension - I have 1 month paid so far and elected the monthly plan but I am paying into a UK account (Wise) as I have funds in a private pension also in the UK. I want to move the private pension through the same process so am using my small UK state pension to "oil the wheels". I was worried about tax but they are not withholding any for state pension. I will transfer to US funds based on exchange rates - I can move to US dollars in the same account without transferring to US - I plan to transfer to US about quarterly.

Pulaski

Bear in mind that Wise is not a bank, and your relationship with Wise is not a "bank account", therefore your money held by Wise is not covered by deposit insurance in the event that Wise fails.

This may or may not be a concern to you, but personally I wouldn't leave more money with Wise than I was prepared to lose, even if the risk was quite low.