How worthwhile is a frozen UK state pension???!!!

[ricardo]

Oohh, punch me then, big boy!

If something seems to good to be true it usually is...

Seriously, I totally understand your calculation but it ignores the effect of inflation (currently 1%) here in Japan.

I am absolutely not comfortable relying on a payment from a country where I no longer live which will go down every year for the rest of my life, despite how cheap it was to buy it. But you are. That’s fine.

It’ll be interesting to see how you feel about it when you’re 85....

[RetireJapan]

Oohh, punch me then, big boy!

If something seems to good to be true it usually is...

Seriously, I totally understand your calculation but it ignores the effect of inflation (currently 1%) here in Japan.

I am absolutely not comfortable relying on a payment from a country where I no longer live which will go down every year for the rest of my life, despite how cheap it was to buy it. But you are. That’s fine.

It’ll be interesting to see how you feel about it when you’re 85....

Heh, I'm a very peaceful person

You're eligible to pay Class 2s? That means you could pay 4,602 pounds (total!) for a pension that pays out 8,000 pounds a year for life. It only gets frozen (under current rules) when you reach pensionable age, so it will go up with UK inflation in the meantime.

Don't you think that is worth taking a flutter on? The potential return dwarfs anything else I can think of, and it's a trivial amount of money...

[IloveJapan]

Dear Ricardo and RetireJapan,

Thank you both for your feedback and ideas. I have not signed up for it. Certainly I think the UK is a relatively high-inflation country, about 3% a year, which shows likelihood the pound will continue weakening in future. So the pension value will also get inflated away fast.

But there is also the possibility that cash-strapped governments will in future prevent people from receiving a full state pension from more than one country. I’m other words, one country may take into account what you receive from another country’s state pension when determining your entitlement. This already happens between the UK and Australia.

Also means testing in future could make 2 state pensions payments cancel each other out.

This kind of problem will not happen with a private pension, which you will receive no matter what.

Very difficult subject, I know. I want financial security too in the end.

[goodandbadjapan]

A simple way of looking at it also makes it seem like an unbelievable deal. If you pay Class 2s you pay about 23,000 yen a year. In return you get more than a million yen a year. Hard to see how that will ever not be a good deal.

[paulb]

I will be 60 later this year, so I wonder if it would be worthwhile, or even possible, to start making back-dated contribution to my UK state pension? I've left it too late, haven't I?

[RetireJapan]

I will be 60 later this year, so I wonder if it would be worthwhile, or even possible, to start making back-dated contribution to my UK state pension? I've left it too late, haven't I?

Definitely worth looking into. Here's the page on voluntary contributions: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-i ... tributions

Did you check your pension online? That will show you your projections and any missing years, etc.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

[paulb]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look into it.
BTW someone recently told me that in Japan tax is payable on income from pensions. Is that actually true? Including the Japanese state pension?

[RetireJapan]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look into it.
BTW someone recently told me that in Japan tax is payable on income from pensions. Is that actually true? Including the Japanese state pension?

Yes. I believe there is a tax reduction on Japanese national pension income though.

[goodandbadjapan]

I will be 60 later this year, so I wonder if it would be worthwhile, or even possible, to start making back-dated contribution to my UK state pension? I've left it too late, haven't I?

No, not too late. I backpaid 12 years last month and it only cost about 1,600 pounds. You only need ten years to qualify for something. Obviously the longer pay in, the more you get back, but you may have some years fully paid already, you still have 5-7 years you can pay and you may be able to backpay up to 12 years. Worth looking into.

[paulb]

Just found out on HMRC website that I can make voluntary contributions going back to 2006/7.