Retirement / Pension

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

The UK has both State and private pensions; the state pension is compulsory and you and your employer will pay into it via your National Insurance contributions from the moment you start working.  How much you get is directly linked to how much you pay in, so it will be almost impossible for you to catch up to earn a full UK state pension.

We have Financial Advisors in the UK; your employer will probably have a preferred scheme; I'd advise you to speak to them when you get here and start working to discover the most effective way of getting your money from your current Pension fund, to the one you can use in the UK.  I know my wife transferred hers from Holland when she first joined me here, but that was some time ago.

Our Services section (top of this page) has an advisor offering his services; I have no idea how good, bad, or indifferent they are - buyer beware.  Alternatively, speak to your fiancee and find out who deals with her pension.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Back in 1986 I invested a payout from my company of £2,000 into a Section 32 Buyout which is basically a private pension that I can access when I am 65. It's worth about £3.800 per year now. Not great but the initial investment was not a lot.

I am not very well keyed up on this matter, but what I understand is that in order to get a UK state pension you need to have contributed paying tax for 10 years in the UK. I haven't as most of my time was spent overseas. I am still checking whether my contributions made in Singapore under the Double Taxation Treaty and my years working and paying tax in Hong Kong before it was handed over to China would count, not sure they would.

But as mentioned above, I would definitely consult a Financial Advisor as matters of pension are really important and you need to have expert advice.