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Post by tim17 on Jan 22, 2022 15:31:53 GMT 1
When I landed in France in 2005 I had 30 years of UK pension contributions which was enough for a full pension, the Tories upped the number of qualifying years to 35 which meant I was 5 years short so I think no matter how well you plan your retirement something will always come along to screw things up.
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FFS
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As usual, in front of my laptop when I'm here
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Post by FFS on Jan 22, 2022 17:16:49 GMT 1
...I had 30 years of UK pension contributions which was enough for a full pension, the Tories upped the number of qualifying years to 35 which meant I was 5 years short... It's a mean thing to do to impose such a change retrospectively.
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exile
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Massif Central
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Post by exile on Jan 22, 2022 17:31:14 GMT 1
Obviously everyone's personal circumstances are different. In the UK it is possible to build up a decent private pension and have a full state pension so upon retirement you don't have to struggle but I fully accept that the UK state pension alone is not enough to live on even if you are a home owner and I also agree with Aardvark that it is easier to live here on a reduced income compared to the UK. In Germany and France you can also build up decent private pensions. The argument is not about how well you can make life in your golden years, but how sh1t it can be for those who can't find the means or jobs to get additional pension provisions. Please don't misunderstand. This is not about me. I don't need any extra UK pension (but I could spend it nevertheless) but there are millions that really do need and are living in abject poverty and it is for them that I whinge about UK state pension. Hiding behind free bus passes, TV licencing and other baubles does not change the basic premise: Compared with much of Europe, UK state pensions are a disgrace.
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Post by houpla on Jan 23, 2022 6:05:08 GMT 1
One must not forget that it is (was?) possible to buy those missing years stamps to bring the pension up to a full payout. A couple of thousand for back contributions is returned in no time a good ROI. I'm not likely to forget that, PE. I paid a lump sum of 6k to ensure a full state pension, then the goalposts were changed.
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Post by manonthemoon2 on Jan 23, 2022 10:23:16 GMT 1
My state pension won't be complete as I haven't built up enough years. I have a private pension of the grand sum of £60 a year.
My OH also doesn't have full state pension.
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FFS
Member
As usual, in front of my laptop when I'm here
Posts: 2,797
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Post by FFS on Jan 23, 2022 10:58:37 GMT 1
One must not forget that it is (was?) possible to buy those missing years stamps to bring the pension up to a full payout. A couple of thousand for back contributions is returned in no time a good ROI. I'm not likely to forget that, PE. I paid a lump sum of 6k to ensure a full state pension, then the goalposts were changed. B******s. How long have you got to go?
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Post by tim17 on Jan 23, 2022 11:40:24 GMT 1
One of my biggest worries has been not having sufficient money in retirement to lead a reasonable life so I've made sacrifices over the last 20 years that I hope it will be enough.
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Aardvark
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Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
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Post by Aardvark on Jan 23, 2022 12:44:46 GMT 1
Good luck. May The Force be with you.
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Post by pcpa on Jan 23, 2022 17:11:34 GMT 1
...I had 30 years of UK pension contributions which was enough for a full pension, the Tories upped the number of qualifying years to 35 which meant I was 5 years short... It's a mean thing to do to impose such a change retrospectively. What was not said was that less than a couple of years before the number of qualifying years was dropped from 40 to 30 and done very quietly too, no blaze of publicity for on the face of it such a generous act.
I was highly suspicious why would they do something on the face of it suicidal in the face of the growing demographic crisis? Nobody had any answers and nobody has since either, my sister at that time was very high up in the Governments Paymaster General Office who pay all the state pensions and even she was being fobbed off with something about equality for women who took a career break to have children.
You know what they say about something too good to be true? Shortly afterwards the qualifying years were increased to 35 and they will have to be increased again, the demographic crisis is worsening.
I have only 26 years through bad accountancy advice and being ambivalent, 26/30 of a full state pension is OK, 26/35 a little worse but still more than I would have got at 26/40, I expect it to rise above 40.
It was probably the Tories that reduced the qualifying years from 40 to 30 but that would not fit the narrative.
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Post by tim17 on Jan 23, 2022 17:27:12 GMT 1
The qualifying years reduction was made by Labour, at the same time they raised the Pension age to compensate.
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Post by pcpa on Jan 23, 2022 17:51:45 GMT 1
Thanks Tim, it's all a dim memory and I really don't know (or care) who was in power at what time.
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Post by houpla on Jan 23, 2022 19:52:04 GMT 1
I'm not likely to forget that, PE. I paid a lump sum of 6k to ensure a full state pension, then the goalposts were changed. B******s. How long have you got to go? Only another 4 years It's good incentive to live long enough to get my own back...literally Just goes to show, though, that however carefully you make plans and decisions, work out a budget etc., as Tim says, something (usually a government) screws it up.
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ibis
Banned Member
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Post by ibis on Jan 23, 2022 19:57:41 GMT 1
B******s. How long have you got to go? Only another 4 years It's good incentive to live long enough to get my own back...literally Just goes to show, though, that however carefully you make plans and decisions, work out a budget etc., as Tim says, something (usually a government) screws it up. That is why an IRA/401k and trust was created for us (sister and I) a long time ago; to not be reliant on the government
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Post by omegal on Jan 24, 2022 13:52:12 GMT 1
I am not sure how many of you remember the Money Programme on Sunday nights but a friend of mine was on it a few times, he was a finance director for a large computer company in the states with offices in the UK. He would talk about the importance of the UK pension and what one paid in was one of the best investments one could make. So one day at a football match (he and I played together for a side on Sundays)I asked him about private pensions which he already mentioned on the programme, he looked me straight in the eye and said "Joe (not my real name by the way) the only private pension is bricks and mortar, that is where your money should go" He had bought a detached place in Hertfordshire which had two bedrooms and plenty of land, by the time I had left the UK, it had turned in to a large property worth shall we say a lot, lot more than he paid for it and a lot more than if he had invested it in a pension plan.
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Post by tim17 on Jan 24, 2022 15:46:59 GMT 1
I am not sure how many of you remember the Money Programme on Sunday nights but a friend of mine was on it a few times, he was a finance director for a large computer company in the states with offices in the UK. He would talk about the importance of the UK pension and what one paid in was one of the best investments one could make. So one day at a football match (he and I played together for a side on Sundays)I asked him about private pensions which he already mentioned on the programme, he looked me straight in the eye and said "Joe (not my real name by the way) the only private pension is bricks and mortar, that is where your money should go" He had bought a detached place in Hertfordshire which had two bedrooms and plenty of land, by the time I had left the UK, it had turned in to a large property worth shall we say a lot, lot more than he paid for it and a lot more than if he had invested it in a pension plan. Ideally of course you need a mix of income streams for retirement rather than just rely on one, how many people are able to buy property as a pension pot though?
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