I left the UK before I was 18, and have never worked in the UK, or paid taxes there. There is a small chance that one day I might return to the UK, and if that is the case I would like to know that I have a state pension waiting for me when I retire. Can I simply pay into it every month voluntarily as you are able to for Taiwanese laobao or does it have to be through employment in the UK? Additionally, if I were to pay into a UK state pension scheme but did not return to the UK, could I claim it from Taiwan when I reach England’s retirement age?
Why not just save and hire a financial advisor to invest for you?
Create a healthy life savings in 30 years.
Don’t lots of government pension schemes have certain perks such as the government matching whatever you put in up to a certain amount? The amount of money I would want to save/invest wouldn’t warrant a financial advisor. I’d be spending more on fees than earning in interest on my investments.
I’m from the generation of ‘The boomers dried up all the pensions’
We’re on our own. I have no intention of trusting any pension system, lest it be insolvent by the time I hit 65.
Canada Pension Plan is barely enough to live off of. I don’t know how the UK works but I know the Canadian one is half of what a minimum wage full time worker would make.
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FYI
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I have paid 21 years of the 35 required (used to be 30) so far. I stopped paying after the retirement age was increased to 67 from 65. According to the current rules I should get around 2/3rds of the state pension if I hit 67. I’ll be very surprised if the rules haven’t changed again by then.
Anyway, the way I used to pay in was by classing myself as self-employed. It’s a single annual payment of around 700 quid. Good luck!
From reading the links that Tando posted, it looks like I’ll only have to pay in for yen years in order to qualify for the new scheme. What I don’t know yet is, how much I’ll actually have to pay.
Under ten years you get nothing. Ten years you get minimum pension. Full pension requires 35 years. As I said, you will need to pay around 700 pounds a year for each contributing year.
Contact them and they will explain.
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I found out my current pension status through the UK gateway system.
I filled in the forms stating I was self employed. Earning a pittance & had no other income.
I pay about £20 a month.
Really? I got done then.
Recently my UK bank asked for my TIN number. I declined to send that.
I have been asked in the past by banks here. I don’t even know my TIN so I can’t give it to them. I usually just say I’ve never worked or paid tax in the UK and they seem to think that’s fine. Taiwan is the only country I’ve paid tax in. I didn’t even pay tax when I was in China because my kind of work was exempt.
Thats very reasonable…
Not for the amount you get back when you retire.
I was self-employed before leaving the UK so I had to pay into the pensions system anyway through direct debit.
When I moved to Taiwan, I kept that in place. It costs about £15 a month.
How much might you get back if you paid the minimum?
It’s about a fiver a week to pay NI to get the pension. It’s worth it, but I imagine the criteria for collecting will change again before I am 67.
I believe its around £130 per week, but don’t quote me. Obviously you get more out than you put in if you only pay it for ten years, but you have to consider what else you could do with that money, as well as the risk that the whole pension system might end, or the criteria might change making you ineligible.
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It’s currently about 170 a week I think. It’s good value when you factor in the risk, but it’s only one of a number of things you should be thinking about when considering financing your retirement.
175 a week if you have paid in the full amount. 10 years of payments won’t get you 175. I think as well if you claim from abroad it won’t ever increase from this amount even when there is an increase in the UK.