British expats entitled to a state pension can expect a whole raft of changes to take place following Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Budget Statement 2013.
The wide ranging rules will also affect private pension investors.
Osborne’s pension changes
Here’s a rundown of the main changes:
- Individual Protection – Individual Protection 2014 will let wealthy pension savers with large funds ring fence their lifetime allowance at £1.5 million as the cap drops to £1.25 million in April 2014.
- ISA limits will rise to £11,880 – with no more than 50% held in a cash ISA
- State pensioners reaching retirement age before April 6, 2016, can contribute extra national insurance contributions to boost the value of their income
- GAD (Government Actuary’s Department) drawdown tables will remain the same after an investigation to check if they are a reasonable match to annuity rates
- State pension age will be linked to longevity statistics on the principle that everyone should spend an average third of their adult life in retirement and receiving the pension.
Retirement ages are expected to rise to 68 years old in the mid 2030s and up to 69 in the late 2040s.
- The state pension will increase by £2.95 a week from April 6, 2014.
- British expats living in a European Economic Area country with an average winter temperature that’s hotter than the warmest region of the UK in winter will not receive the winter fuel payment from April 2015.
“This increase, and the other increases under this government, means pensioners will be over £800 every year better off,” said Osborne in his statement.
“I can announce that we are also going to offer current pensioners an opportunity to make voluntary national insurance contributions to boost their income in retirement.
Affordable for future generations
“We will also extend this opportunity to those who reach pension age before the introduction of the single tier pension.
“This will help those who haven’t built up much entitlement to the Additional State Pension, especially women and the self-employed.
“But we also have to guarantee that the basic state pension is affordable in the future, even as people live longer and our society grows older.
“The only way to do that is to ensure the pension age keeps track with life expectancy.”
The statement also confirmed the retirement age/longevity link will be reviewed every five years to make sure they keep pace with each other.
Increasing the age when the state pension is paid is expected to save future generations around £500 million a year in taxes and national insurance.
The Governments plan to discriminate yet again against expat pensioners is totally floored and based on temperature statisitics suppliede by the Met office but then tampered with by the government. There is no legal or moral ground to discriminate against expat pensioners living on the european mainland and their attempts to circumnavigate the ECHR judgement against them for their last attempt will fail when it is challenged again. Whatch this space.
The state pension will increase by £2.95 a week from April 6, 2014.- This increase, and other increases under this government, means pensioners will be £800 every year better off, said Osborne in his statement.
But not for those he continues to rob by denying the indexation pf their pensions.
Everyone knows the situation now without me repeating the much disputed discrimination.
All pensioners wherever they live should help to get this anomaly sorted by removal of the regulation and clause 20 of the new Pensions Bill. All British citizens which includes all pensioners should also have the vote especially in the light of the future of the EU.
We, outside of the EU, will help fight for your right to vote and you should help us to get pension parity. How about it ?