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Expat pensioners having contrasting financial experiences
Expat pensioners having contrasting financial experiences
| Published: | 28 Apr at 11 AM |
Some people who retire overseas can enjoy their lives while their pensions grow with British inflation, while other end up losing large amounts of money, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Many UK nationals thinking about retiring overseas probably don’t consider the fact that the country they move to will have a massive impact on the amount of money they will have to live on during their old age.
Those opting to move to Canada, South Africa or Australia or one of another 170 countries will see no annual increase in their basic state pension. Instead, it will be frozen permanently from the date they retire or move to their new country of residence, and it will never go up again.
However, those moving to the US, EU countries or one of what seems a random list of other nations including the Philippines and Israel, will see their state pension go up in line with inflation. At present, there are roughly 550,000 UK citizens with frozen pensions scattered around the world, most of whom reside in Australia.
Those in the oldest age bracket, who started receiving their state pensions during the 1970s, have seen their payouts frozen, in some cases, at just £6 per week. Yet had they opted to live other popular retirement retreats such as Spain or Florida they would be receiving as much as £ 107.45 per week.
These rules have long since caused discontent among the ‘frozen pensioners’, who describe the UK government’s policy as discriminatory and unfair. The rules also prevent some elderly British citizens from emigrating to join their children and grandchildren in countries like Canada because they are concerned about the financial burden they may put on their families as their UK pension dwindles.
Many UK nationals thinking about retiring overseas probably don’t consider the fact that the country they move to will have a massive impact on the amount of money they will have to live on during their old age.
Those opting to move to Canada, South Africa or Australia or one of another 170 countries will see no annual increase in their basic state pension. Instead, it will be frozen permanently from the date they retire or move to their new country of residence, and it will never go up again.
However, those moving to the US, EU countries or one of what seems a random list of other nations including the Philippines and Israel, will see their state pension go up in line with inflation. At present, there are roughly 550,000 UK citizens with frozen pensions scattered around the world, most of whom reside in Australia.
Those in the oldest age bracket, who started receiving their state pensions during the 1970s, have seen their payouts frozen, in some cases, at just £6 per week. Yet had they opted to live other popular retirement retreats such as Spain or Florida they would be receiving as much as £ 107.45 per week.
These rules have long since caused discontent among the ‘frozen pensioners’, who describe the UK government’s policy as discriminatory and unfair. The rules also prevent some elderly British citizens from emigrating to join their children and grandchildren in countries like Canada because they are concerned about the financial burden they may put on their families as their UK pension dwindles.
