Pension cuts could affect future claimaints

[sargeant]

Quote Khundon

where possible, people must try to provide for their old age themselves.

Yeah right i did just that along comes Brown and Taxes the profit my pension fund makes BEFORE I GET A PENNY and then taxes it again on what is left that i receive double taxation which is supposed to never happen

Then my pension and no b*gger ever said that my wife would NOT receive a widows pension but hey what the hell my pension wont be worth jack crap as i don't get the rises each year.

All this BS about save for your old age is just that BS. My advice spend it get pissed every day dont work claim you are from some alien country keep using the NHS and above all do not pay tax but you must live in blighty cos then you are gonna get loadsamaney from the gov.
Cos if you leave the UK you cease to be British except to pay excessive charges to the embassy and tax on what piddling little is left of the miserable pension you receive

[Khundon1975]

Quote Khundon

where possible, people must try to provide for their old age themselves.

Yeah right i did just that along comes Brown and Taxes the profit my pension fund makes BEFORE I GET A PENNY and then taxes it again on what is left that i receive double taxation which is supposed to never happen

Then my pension and no b*gger ever said that my wife would NOT receive a widows pension but hey what the hell my pension wont be worth jack crap as i don't get the rises each year.

All this BS about save for your old age is just that BS. My advice spend it get pissed every day dont work claim you are from some alien country keep using the NHS and above all do not pay tax but you must live in blighty cos then you are gonna get loadsamaney from the gov.
Cos if you leave the UK you cease to be British except to pay excessive charges to the embassy and tax on what piddling little is left of the miserable pension you receive

Well Sarge it's true that you can either save for your old age, or piss it all away.
I chose the former and the way things are going in the UK, I'm glad I did.

Who, in their right mind, would follow your advice and then retire to a country like Thailand I wonder?
Tax is, unfortunately, a necessary evil but there are ways to mitigate the amount you pay but that is for another thread.

As for "getting loads of money from the government" well, they seem to be hell bent on putting a stop to that and maybe in a few years time the UK benefit system will have changed beyond recognition.

When it is too late to save, it's to late to moan.

[Bristolian]

When it is too late to save, it's to late to moan.

Sorry I can't agree. Sargent is more than capable to answer for himself and surely will.

My only comments regarding your mail are only that it smells of "I'm all right Jack FU"

Not everyone had the opportunity of "Golden Pensions" but still need to survive.

[margaretcarnes]

For one thing NI credits have been made for years along with Child Benefit payments to 'stay at home Mums'

I didn't know that, when did that start Mags?

Edit - just checked, the credit is awarded for stay at homes until the children reach the age of 12. That will still leave a shortfall for many stay at home mums.

I don't know when it started Caller - it was certainly in place in the 90's and I think much earlier than that. Credits used to be made for a maximum of 16 years, so even that has been reduced now. Mind you they did recently reduce the years of full conts needed for a full state pension to 30. Last month they announced that it will be going up again, to 35.
The other quirk which no longer exists of course is the married womans' reduced stamp. It's all to do with equality and social change of course. Never cost cutting.

[musungu]

My wife is very canny where money is concerned (like most Thai women) and she took out her own UK private pension way back in 2009 and she also pays her NI stamp. She did this without any prompting from me.

My company pensions are all of the gold plated variety (thank God) and she will benefit from those when I go as well, so, together with savings, investments and property, she is well catered for in her dotage.

When our son was born, we put money in trust for him and will continue to do so every year and when he is old enough, we will convert some of that to start a private pension for him, as he will most likely be living in Thailand then, as he holds both UK and Thai Passports

I think this is called '' blowing ones own trumpet '' - all stand up and give him a clap

[margaretcarnes]

This raises the spectre of my wife paying tax on my BA private pension and yet not getting a widows pension from the state

Downright racist theft no other way to describe it

Makes me realize how important getting my wife to finish her university degree is for her future (one of my better decisions)

I'm afraid many of us have to pay tax on occupational pensions Sarge - wherever we live. It isn't a perogative of foreign spouses. And widows pensions are limited as well - probably out of the window altogether by 2016.
I have always disagreed with the law which disallows annual state pension increases for expats in the LOS - and in other countries - but the fact is that even UK residents are now getting very little increase in pensions. And you've probably also noticed that new phenomenon called GMP which takes part of your CS pension increase away and adds it to your state pension? I haven't even bothered to struggle with the calculation on mine yet because I'm sure we end up worse off anyway.
I know it is harder for UK expats to manage in the LOS these days. But it's also very easy for them to lose touch with exactly how much UK residents are getting now on benefits. Granted I'm talking working age people who are on benefits for whatever reason, but with all the recent changes many people here are below the poverty line. Food banks are flourishing in the UK. Something I certainly never expected to see back in the 60's when I started work.
There is often debate on here about how much a farang needs to live on in HH. A few have said that 30,000 baht a month is do-able. Just. But there are many more people in the UK living on half that amount now to cover food, fuel and transport. (no sorry - forget the transport - they can't afford it!)
So I suppose in some ways I do agree with your way of thinking. Piss away the lot. Mainly because our age group seems to have been left in a kind of void not of our own making. We worked and paid our dues faithfully in the belief we would have a reasonably comfortable retirement. We paid into our occupational pensions as well. Now we start to wonder why.

[sargeant]

quote Khundon

Well Sarge it's true that you can either save for your old age, or piss it all away.

Quote me

Yeah right i did just that

And all this BS has happened AFTER repeat AFTER i retired
The point i am making is that even the private pensions arent safe the govt changed the rules that were used on my Private pension from RPI to some other Number and against my Private company pensions wish
That is on top of the double taxation to say nothing of the black hole Brown left in all these private pension funds
You may well think you are sitting pretty but then so did i i was stupid enough to think they would honour my payments (made COMPULSORY i may add) and pay out as was informed to me and the general public.
They are hitting the most vulnerable those abroad (out of jealousy and xenophobia) because we cannot march on the govt or even protest they also know the rest of the UK dont give a crap its money for them so we will have to sit and suck it as they rob and steal us blind.
I wonder just how much it will cost when thousands of pensioners who cannot afford an air ticket have to be repatriated back to the UK housing benefits etc on top of an air ticket
my advice to you still stands dont come to Thailand you will then realize you are NOT an equal citizen of great britain you will be just another peasant to be screwed

[sargeant]

Mags the reason i wrote quote

This raises the spectre of my wife paying tax on my BA private pension and yet not getting a widows pension from the state

If she is good enough to pay taxes then she is good enough to receive the benefits from paying that tax and it is just outright theft if she doesn't receive ANY OF the benefits NHS et al

[STEVE G]

The pensions, which can be worth up to £3,500 a year and last until death, cost taxpayers £410 million a year.

Was that until the death of the husband or the wife?

[buksida]

If she is good enough to pay taxes then she is good enough to receive the benefits from paying that tax

It doesn't work that way for farangs that work in Thailand and pay tax here ....

[Khundon1975]

When it is too late to save, it's to late to moan.

Sorry I can't agree. Sargent is more than capable to answer for himself and surely will.

My only comments regarding your mail are only that it smells of "I'm all right Jack FU"

Not everyone had the opportunity of "Golden Pensions" but still need to survive.

Well Bristolian, it's a free World and you are of course entitled to your opinion but it don't alter the fact that if you don't save, then don't expect the state to keep you in fags, drink and girls.

My company pensions were very good, mainly down to three things. The positions I held within the companies, the good pension plans and the fact that I doubled my contributions to those pensions.

I got hit, just as Sarge did, when that twat Brown hit pensions, it was my savings and investments that filled the gap he made in my pension plans.

It's a fact, people are now living much longer in retirement and inflation is hitting many of their fixed pensions, only savings etc can ease the pain of that problem.

EVERYONE has the opportunity to save for there retirement, if they don't, then they are fools.

So, yes, FU Jack.

[Khundon1975]

quote Khundon

Well Sarge it's true that you can either save for your old age, or piss it all away.

Quote me

Yeah right i did just that

And all this BS has happened AFTER repeat AFTER i retired
The point i am making is that even the private pensions arent safe the govt changed the rules that were used on my Private pension from RPI to some other Number and against my Private company pensions wish
That is on top of the double taxation to say nothing of the black hole Brown left in all these private pension funds
You may well think you are sitting pretty but then so did i i was stupid enough to think they would honour my payments (made COMPULSORY i may add) and pay out as was informed to me and the general public.
They are hitting the most vulnerable those abroad (out of jealousy and xenophobia) because we cannot march on the govt or even protest they also know the rest of the UK dont give a crap its money for them so we will have to sit and suck it as they rob and steal us blind.
I wonder just how much it will cost when thousands of pensioners who cannot afford an air ticket have to be repatriated back to the UK housing benefits etc on top of an air ticket
my advice to you still stands dont come to Thailand you will then realize you are NOT an equal citizen of great britain you will be just another peasant to be screwed

Sarge I was under the impression that this new law they are bringing in will not affect those that are already retired, so your wife should not be affected where your state pension is concerned and she should be entitled to a share of your state pension should you shuffle off your mortal coil. Maybe Mags can throw some light on that?

"my advice to you still stands dont come to Thailand you will then realize you are NOT an equal citizen of great britain you will be just another peasant to be screwed

Exactly the reason why we are not moving to Thailand full time but have decided to divide our time between UK, Italy and Thailand. Cutting all ties with the UK is not a move we had ever contemplated, as we want our child to be educated here. We could not do that if we were in Thailand full time.


"I wonder just how much it will cost when thousands of pensioners who cannot afford an air ticket have to be repatriated back to the UK housing benefits etc on top of an air ticket"

They don't stand a hope in hell of getting a flight out of the UK government and even if they did, where would they live, there aren't any houses for them.

[Khundon1975]

My wife is very canny where money is concerned (like most Thai women) and she took out her own UK private pension way back in 2009 and she also pays her NI stamp. She did this without any prompting from me.

My company pensions are all of the gold plated variety (thank God) and she will benefit from those when I go as well, so, together with savings, investments and property, she is well catered for in her dotage.

When our son was born, we put money in trust for him and will continue to do so every year and when he is old enough, we will convert some of that to start a private pension for him, as he will most likely be living in Thailand then, as he holds both UK and Thai Passports

I think this is called '' blowing ones own trumpet '' - all stand up and give him a clap

No, it's called forward planning but I would not expect you to understand that concept.

[STEVE G]

....so your wife should not be affected where your state pension is concerned and she should be entitled to a share of your state pension should you shuffle off your mortal coil.

If it's the case that the wife of every expat gets a pension until she dies, I can understand why they would want to put the brakes on it a bit. If you consider that many expats marry girls many years younger than themselves, you would get situations where the government could be conceivably be paying out a pension for sixty years or more after the expat has finished working which would be economically unsustainable whatever the morals of the case might be.

[Khundon1975]

....so your wife should not be affected where your state pension is concerned and she should be entitled to a share of your state pension should you shuffle off your mortal coil.

If it's the case that the wife of every expat gets a pension until she dies, I can understand why they would want to put the brakes on it a bit. If you consider that many expats marry girls many years younger than themselves, you would get situations where the government could be conceivably be paying out a pension for sixty years or more after the expat has finished working which would be economically unsustainable whatever the morals of the case might be.

True Steve but they should not stop the payments to existing recipients, just those that claim after the new law is passed. Then people can plan for their future retirement, knowing that their spouses are not entitled to the £3,500 per year from the UK government.

That would be the fair way to do it. IMHO.