Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[weeksy]

EHIC is dead. If you are working here as a taxpayer, then you are covered by Spanish NHS.

Otherwise it's compulsory to have private health care. Decent cover starts at €1000 a year. I pay 1400 but started later and it's the best.

But, to balance that out. Our total tax bill for huge villa and 5 vehicles is 900€ a year.
And zero gas bill.

Not a ridiculous figure to find then.

[Yorick]

And wall to wall totty all year round. Just sat for 5 mins on sea front and watched all the lady surfers getting rigged up

[Mr. Dazzle]

And wall to wall totty all year round.

You've seen through my 'university lecturer' plan then.

[Yorick]

And wall to wall totty all year round.

You've seen through my 'university lecturer' plan then.

Do they wear tight wetsuits and skimpy bikinis?

[gremlin]

And wall to wall totty all year round.

You've seen through my 'university lecturer' plan then.

Yoz is more 'Universal lecher'.

[Yambo]

Out of interest for the non-UK people here, what does it cost per year for health stuff outside of the UK and what level of cover does that bring ?#

Is there any likely reciprocal health cover like the EHIC card we have (i assume) now lost? If so, what would that cover ? If not, do the have an NHS type service abroad and how does it all work for non-birth residents, can you even get to be classed as a resident enough to get covered ?

In Turkey you need health insurance to get residency. There are no reciprocal arrangements. If you are on holiday and need medical treatment you'll have to pay or have insurance. With private health insurance it;s the same as anywhere, you need to shop around for not only the best price but also the best cover. Any existing conditions are either going to cost you more or not be covered. I pay the government health insurance scheme. A few years ago we were told we had to have health insurance. I was close to 65 and private was going to be expensive and I had pre-existing conditions. The government scheme didn't ask about any of that and didn't require a medical. It was also reasonably priced so I signed up. The price has gone up over the years - it's based on the minimum Turkish wage and inflation is high but the pound/TL exchange rate has also improved for me over the same period and it's a bit cheaper now then when I started. Current cost for me is around £80 a month. It would be the same cost for a family so a better deal if I was still married. People I know with private cover are generally paying more than me.

In addition, the doctors at the government hospital tend to be better. I can make appointments on line for the gov't hospital. whereas at the private hospitals I can just roll up, see if there's a slot, pay a nominal fee (about £12 ) because I'm in the gov't scheme and see a specialist. I can take my choice and it all works well.

Dental treatment is cheaper than the UK and arguably better, I know lots of people who book their dentist for work when they book their holidays. Optical stuff is about the same price as UK and your eye test is done by a doctor at one of the hospitals. Opticians only sell glasses.

[Bigyin]

When i was young i didnt even think about pensions. I left the RAF at about 24 and joined the Police and was asked if i wanted to sign over my military pension. Didnt have a clue and asked the copper in training dept what he thought and was told "Do it, you can retire earlier" so i did.

I paid a shitload every month into the pension to the extent at the beginning i almost opted out to cover the mortgage etc but stuck with it thankfully.

The pension has been changed and fucked about with by assorted governments with each promising "this will be the last time" but i think there are now 3 versions of the pension with each one offering a lower return for more being put in. I was in the very fortunate position of being one of the last eligible to leave on the 1987 scheme which meant mine wasnt messed with at all from what i signed up with at the start. The transferring of my military pension meant i was able to leave on a full pension 2 and a 1/4 years before my full 30 years required service.

Because of this i walked out the door aged 51 in June 2019 rather than aged 54 in sept this year. The lump sum made sure i cleared my extensive debts i had been managing for many years and allowed me to put some towards the mortgage as well but thats now my only large outgoing aside usual bills as no loans, CC or finance anymore. I also bought a small holiday rental property which brought in some limited income last summer and hopefully will in future

I spent the first 6 months really busy as we had just moved into a country cottage that needed doing up top to bottom. After that i looked around for a part time job to keep busy and bring in more income to allow us not to have to think too much about future finance. When i was in service we all spoke about retirement and figured we needed about 700 quid a month on top of the pension to bring us to our previous take home wage. I had an option of going back full time on shifts doing something similar for a lot of money but would have put me into 40% tax bracket so fuck that and i wanted less stress and no shifts.

A local bike school was looking for instructors so i thought i would have a look and one thing led to another i am now (or was before the govt locked us down) doing CBT training for kids and novices and renewals to keep them legal. The pay is fairly crap (below minimum wage) but i am doing something i enjoy and want to do so that offsets it entirely. I made enough from it each month to more thn hit my required number and hope to do so again. At the moment i am living off my monthly pension payment so the account is slowly decreasing but not enough to panic about. Lockdown means no income from either training or holiday rental but many others are in a far worse position than i am.

TL;DR ..... pay into a pension as much as you can, its worth it in the end and makes life easier

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I don't begrudge anyone their government pension, especially those that did dangerous jobs, I could have had one if I'd stuck with government employment, but it didn't suit me, my own piss poor pension is a combination of a misspent youth, a poor employment history and leaving jobs because I was bored.

I got fucked over by BT changing the pension scheme and not putting enough money into whilst taking money out of it to give people taking early retirement early pensions, and now there's no money left in it, a colleague who worked for British Steel is in the same situation.

Anyway enjoy life now, you don't know how long you'll live.

[Noggin]

"Seasons" means getting 6 months cold, dark and wet. And short days.

Not necessarily. We have seasons and while we get wet winters ( a necessity when your water comes straight out of the ground) it doesn't rain every day and we have a lot of beautiful weather this time of year. The rain of course helps to keep everything green and growing which is something we feel differently about (although I was amused by your waxing lyrical about how green your island was a few days ago).

Cold and dark? Meh.

The almond trees will be in blossom soon around here and locally we grow a lot of oranges - they're a winter fruit so add a bit of colour to all the green.

My comments were aimed at UK and northern Europe. You went to where you are for similar reasons to us.

We get decent seasons, but you do have to like a bit of snow!! I couldn't live down in the valley permanently or even in Annecy full time as it's too damn hot in the summer and more wet than snow in the winter. Up here I get the best. Sunshine summer and winter. Not too hot summer and lots of lovely snow in the winter. This winter is a bit weird as there has been less sun than normal!! But it'll be back soon

[Bike Breaker]

Out of interest for the non-UK people here, what does it cost per year for health stuff outside of the UK and what level of cover does that bring ?#

Is there any likely reciprocal health cover like the EHIC card we have (i assume) now lost? If so, what would that cover ? If not, do the have an NHS type service abroad and how does it all work for non-birth residents, can you even get to be classed as a resident enough to get covered ?

The UK government said the EHIC card is still valid until each individual card expires. After that, it will issue a new card which will have the same benefits in the EU as the existing one. There are some places that don't accept it and not all countries provide the same emergency healthcare.

[Yorick]

Out of interest for the non-UK people here, what does it cost per year for health stuff outside of the UK and what level of cover does that bring ?#

Is there any likely reciprocal health cover like the EHIC card we have (i assume) now lost? If so, what would that cover ? If not, do the have an NHS type service abroad and how does it all work for non-birth residents, can you even get to be classed as a resident enough to get covered ?

The UK government said the EHIC card is still valid until each individual card expires. After that, it will issue a new card which will have the same benefits in the EU as the existing one. There are some places that don't accept it and not all countries provide the same emergency healthcare.

That doesn't apply to residents

[slowsider]

Out of interest for the non-UK people here, what does it cost per year for health stuff outside of the UK and what level of cover does that bring ?#

Is there any likely reciprocal health cover like the EHIC card we have (i assume) now lost? If so, what would that cover ? If not, do the have an NHS type service abroad and how does it all work for non-birth residents, can you even get to be classed as a resident enough to get covered ?

The UK government said the EHIC card is still valid until each individual card expires. After that, it will issue a new card which will have the same benefits in the EU as the existing one. There are some places that don't accept it and not all countries provide the same emergency healthcare.

That doesn't apply to residents

Under the Common Travel Area, UK citizens who live in, work in, or visit Ireland have the same right to access healthcare as citizens who are resident in Ireland [who are entitled to free public hospital services but you may have to pay in-patient and out-patient hospital charges. You are also entitled to subsidised prescribed drugs and medicines and maternity and infant care services]
You might just want to downplay the accent a bit at the moment

[Dodgy69]

These days some folk are on such poor wages they can't afford to pay into their company schemes, so opt out. Where i work now, employee's puts in 5 % and company put in 3%. Absolute shite, so at my age I opted out.

In previous job, company put in 12% as long as employee put in 8% or more. Any less than 8% and company contribution reduced. Basically, auto enrollment isn't the answer for future generations because wages are so shit.

[gremlin]

These days some folk are on such poor wages they can't afford to pay into their company schemes, so opt out. Where i work now, employee's puts in 5 % and company put in 3%. Absolute shite, so at my age I opted out.

In previous job, company put in 12% as long as employee put in 8% or more. Any less than 8% and company contribution reduced. Basically, auto enrollment isn't the answer for future generations because wages are so shit.

I've not known any pension scheme where AVCs aren't possible. If they not, anybody can set one up. I know it's easy to sit here smug at my age with a DB scheme, etc. I recall, when I started work you'd hear the salary and then you'd stop listening*, but we need to drum it into kids from the off that they need to start putting into a pension. By the time the first grey hairs turn up, it's too late.

By the same mark I know self employed people, cabbies in particular, who have no idea how they're going to cope in retirement. I think my mate has visions of driving the cab 'til he drops dead, which makes him bloody miserable, but at the same time, he lives in a nice house, always has a new car on the drive, insisted that his wife looked after the kids at home and has had a succession of tropical holidays. Made your bed, mate....


*Same went for the private medical cover. You get to a certain age and, bugger me, do you give thanks for it.

[Mr. Dazzle]

These days some folk are on such poor wages they can't afford to pay into their company schemes, so opt out. Where i work now, employee's puts in 5 % and company put in 3%. Absolute shite, so at my age I opted out.

In previous job, company put in 12% as long as employee put in 8% or more. Any less than 8% and company contribution reduced. Basically, auto enrollment isn't the answer for future generations because wages are so shit.

5/3 is legal minimum companies have to offer, it used to be 3/3 until recently. In fact it was only a few years ago that they didn't HAVE to offer anything at all.

It's not a case of shit wages, it's a case of people living longer and the golden pensions of old being unsustainable.

As above, I've got an old fashioned final salary pension from my first job which I started in 2006...they closed it to new entrants not long after 'cause the numbers simply don't stack up. People refuse to die. The bastards

[Taipan]

I reckon the corona Virus was commissioned by pension people. Kill off the entitled claimants and be quids in!

[Horse]

GHIC now

https://www.gov.uk/global-health-insurance-card

[Supermofo]

Early days were always buy a place abroad and eventually move out there. But I've never actually been to southern Spain, so would need to scout it out first and find somewhere that suits our needs and renting a place would give a good insight into what living amongst that community would be like.

A generalisation I know but...
My Mrs folks own a villa in Spain (Calahonda mid way between Malaga and Marbella) which my SIL currently lives in. It's nice to visit but I don't think I could live there. Most of the ex pats are stuck in a weird time warp and it all seems very insular as most don't mix with local people. As an example take my SIL, lived in Spain now for 5 years and can barely speak any more Spanish than to get by with basics in shops/bars/restaurants. They have mates who have lived there way longer who are the same. And loads of em are retired so its all a bit gods waiting room while they sit in British bars watching football and having Sunday roasts/fry ups.

I think I could winter there but it'd drive me mental unless I could escape the everyone knows each others business ex pats.

Plus and I know its a bit odd but months of 30c heat would grate for me. I wouldn't want to ride my bike in it and you end up avoiding lots of the day time activity cos its too hot. Fine if that's you bag but I much prefer the Spanish spring/autumn.

And yes thats a big generalisation but does some up large parts of southern Spain.

If I was gonna retire abroad I think France/Italy would be higher up my list.

[Dodgy69]

After watching David Attenborough the other night, in another 60/80 years we won't need to worry about pensions.

[Nordboy]

Ah, pensions.

Whilst many would say that my pension is still a very good one, it has been changed dramatically over the last few years. The changes have had a massive effect on my actual ability to retire. I'll probably now have to continue to work full time rather than get a part time job.

I (along with about 30k others) have had to take both the government and my so called union, even though they're not technically a union, to court. The first case against the g'ment we've already won, the other could take a while to get to court.

Ultimately because of this, I actually can't get any true figures, because no one yet knows what the court remedy will be.

Saying that, because the gubbermint is probably going to change my pension again in the next few years, I don't think I will now do my full 30 years, I don't think it'll be worth me staying beyond 25, as the extra 5 yrs I pay in (and I pay in a load each month) will bring me any real benefit.

I'm not bitter about it all though (not much!!!). All the years of shift work, dealing with shit, missing events at home, etc etc.......