A welcome windfall??

[RobertArthur]

@ Niemeyjt, okay, point taken, let's go in the direction of Chateau de la Muette in Paris, in walking distance from le Bois de Boulogne, a 2021 summary by the OECD.

[niemeyjt]

My children used to feed the ducks there - and the Jardin d'Aclimatation and Bagatelle.

But that report does not quote the actual amounts paid and the figures it does show have the UK in or around the middle of the various tables and nowhere does it back up the claim "that UK pension is the lowest in Europe by a considerable margin" (which it isn't).

[hughnique]

Really feeling flushed now that our two tenners Xmas Bonus have hit the bank account.

[Hotrodder]

[Nomoss]

I don't need anyone's report to know that my UK pension is inadequate. I have quite similar qualifying years in both the UK and Spain, but my Spanish pension is 2.33 times my UK one.

[hughnique]

Mucho Wonga.

[Nomoss]

I don't need anyone's report to know that my UK pension is inadequate. I have quite similar qualifying years in both the UK and Spain, but my Spanish pension is 2.33 times my UK one.

Mucho Wonga.

Not really. I spent a lot of time overseas. Last year I received €2475 for 15 years in the UK and €5775 for 18 years in Spain.

In 1987, when I first heard about voluntary payments, the Yobs Centre, or whatever it was called in those days, wrongly told me that they cost the full amount of current contributions, so I didn't think it worth making them.

It's not only French bureaucrats who are badly trained and ill-informed.

[Quiksilver]

I've been negotiating the labyrinth that is the DWP/HMRC recently. Pension's due in 2024 so I thought it best to get all in order in good time. Ye Gods! UK bureaucracy used to be so simple but just making a phone call can take all day, now. I ended up with a list of 8 phone numbers (calling from abroad) from 2 websites, half of which are out of action or obsolete. There's lots of emphasis on getting a forecast and what's missing but they suddenly come over all coy about how to top up contributions It's not normal....since when did Gov departments make it difficult for themselves to take money? Apart from the lack of ennuie and rudeness it's worthy of the French .....

[niemeyjt]

Sidetrack - but an important one - for anyone not yet retired.

Anyone who wants to make back-dated Class 3 NI contributions to 2006 to increase their UK pension has to act before April - otherwise you can buy only 6 years.

This is the New State Pension - over £200 pw next year with a full 35 years of contributions.

You need a minimum of 10 years contributions to get a UK pension - but this allows you to buy 17 years - so half a pension in its own right.

see: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... 5-500.html

[niemeyjt]

I've been negotiating the labyrinth that is the DWP/HMRC recently. Pension's due in 2024 so I thought it best to get all in order in good time. Ye Gods! UK bureaucracy used to be so simple but just making a phone call can take all day, now. I ended up with a list of 8 phone numbers (calling from abroad) from 2 websites, half of which are out of action or obsolete. There's lots of emphasis on getting a forecast and what's missing but they suddenly come over all coy about how to top up contributions It's not normal....since when did Gov departments make it difficult for themselves to take money? Apart from the lack of ennuie and rudeness it's worthy of the French .....

Get a statement - you can do it online https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

To pay, it is Class 3 National Insurance - https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class- ... -insurance