Mekong Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 I was sent an interesting link today https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record From the Link one can check out if HMRC are after you and NI Contributions / state Pension Pleasnt surprise for me since I expected square root of fuck all but since my fist 10 years of working I was all paid up on NI I have a State Pension I didn't know about. At todays rate I am entitled to £680 pcm / £8 Grand a year I never knew about, by the time I hit 67 in 2031 probably much more. Being a gov.uk website it is a bitch to navigate, requires passport details and NI Number, hey I don't have my card but I remember the Careers officer issuing it to me 37 years ago saying "NEVER LOSE THIS NUMBER" so true, only 2 numbers I know by heart, my NI (Social Security in US) and my Mums landline Number, what more does a man need? Well worth the hassle mind, totally e-based all correspondence via email, I got confirmation that my address was accepted and Payments commence 30/4/31, all I have to do now is live that long. Any Brit expats interested PM me your email addy and I will forward the email I received to you Cheers Kong 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 I have friends who taught here for decades because they loved what they were doing. Then they maxed out on age ... and get nothing! Well, no one is to blame but themselves. They knew the day would come. I at least get enough from the US to survive on. (One friend taught at Thammasat for 27 years and was shocked when they dropped him at age 60. The dept head didn't even give him the 3 months notice required by his contract. He was very lucky to get hired by a name private school until he was 65 at a decent enough salary.) p.s. Takes a minimum of 10 years paying into US Social Security. Less than that and even the money you paid in is lost to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 Hmm, £159.55 per week, £8296.60 a year, is the current full basic state pension. But you'll need 35 years of paid up NI contributions to get that. You can still pay NI even being self employed working abroad non resident whatever. If you only have 10 years or so paid up it's a good idea to bung the system a little now to get it as full as you can and make sure you really have the necessary minimum 10 years of contributions to qualify. If you paid N.I. for 10 years and it was sufficiently long ago you might also have been paying into a workplace pension. That could easily double your total entitlement. If not your might have been paying into SERPS which would also increase your state pension over the basic amount. Most of the smaller companies that were providing pensions back then did so through external organisations so even if the company folded the pension was protected. Unless you were with the Daily Mirror Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 I have friends who taught here for decades because they loved what they were doing. Then they maxed out on age ... and get nothing! Well, no one is to blame but themselves. They knew the day would come. I at least get enough from the US to survive on. (One friend taught at Thammasat for 27 years and was shocked when they dropped him at age 60. The dept head didn't even give him the 3 months notice required by his contract. He was very lucky to get hired by a name private school until he was 65 at a decent enough salary.) p.s. Takes a minimum of 10 years paying into US Social Security. Less than that and even the money you paid in is lost to you. Same same in UK I believe. As for not getting anything after years of working. SOP in Asia I think apart from gov employees. Hence the big families and the demand for the kids to provide. Tis the nature of things here. I've never been one for "investing", far too risky for my blood. But I do have a fully paid up UK basic state pension, 32 years in a final salary company pension, a nice little pot of gold for my toys, and a couple of well raised kids who fully believe in supporting Ma and Pa. Hopefully that lot at least was a wise investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 Foreign lecturers get higher pay than Thais, so it looks good ... but only at the beginning. Thais get regular increases - for civil servants at least a half step (5%), if not a full step (10%). Thais who've been teaching for 20 years are making as much or more than the foreigners. They also get a full pension at 60 (usually half of their final salary), plus lifetime medical coverage for themselves and their families. Evil foreign devils get nothing, except maybe a farewell luncheon. (I didn't even get that, since the dept head screwed up and scheduled it on the day I had to renew my visa. I hope they enjoyed my luncheon. ) p.s. Also, foreigners are always kept at the lowest rank - lecturer. Thais get promoted to assistant prof, associate prof, and the lucky ones even full prof. Those promotions provide automatic pay hikes too, not to mention the prestige. (One of our lecturers had a PhD from the States and had been an associate prof in the US. Thammasat started him out at the bottom as a lecturer. He complained that he was an associate prof. They told him, "That was in the States. It doesn't count over here.") Oh yeah, foreign lecturers teach more hours for their pay than do Thai lecturers, sometimes by as much as 50%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 I retired at age 50. Generally, though, people should continue to work if you like the work. My expenses dropped quite a bit after retirement; and with more time to concentrate on my investments, I accumulated more wealth after retirement than before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted August 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2017 Hmm, £159.55 per week, £8296.60 a year, is the current full basic state pension. But you'll need 35 years of paid up NI contributions to get that. You can still pay NI even being self employed working abroad non resident whatever. If you only have 10 years or so paid up it's a good idea to bung the system a little now to get it as full as you can and make sure you really have the necessary minimum 10 years of contributions to qualify. For a start I did not say "Only 10 Years of Contributions" what I did say was "My first 10 years of working I was all paid up" , I have made contributions in subsequent years but not the full wack Notice the subtle difference between what you assumed and what I actually wrote. Full UK Pension is £691.28 pcm and my entitlement is £680 pcm, not worth "Topping UP" with voluntary payments for an extra 11 quid per month. As I said, it was something I had forgotten about / written off so to speak and never even considered as part of my retirement plan. So, as you can imagine, I was pleasantly surprised to find all of my records now available online and I do have and extra £8,000 p.a., well extra in my calculations anyway, all I have to do know is live until I am 67 to claim it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted August 11, 2017 Report Share Posted August 11, 2017 Ah okay, I didn't get that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted August 11, 2017 Report Share Posted August 11, 2017 You can start Social Security in the US at 65, but it increases if you wait until 70. The government more or less is betting against your longevity. I started at 65 (though still working), while a colleague postponed his to 70. I told him he'd have to live to at least 80 to make up all the payments he could have had between 65 and 70, but he didn't listen. He gambled, got leukemia at 71, and checked out at age 72. Some times it doesn't pay to be greedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted August 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2017 In the UK it used to be 65 for Men 60 For Women, currently 64 for women and will be equalized in 2018 Next it goes up to 66 in 2020, 67 in 2028 and 68 in 2037 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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