Hi, I hope everything goes well for you in Spain. If hubby is unwell he may be able to claim incapacity benefit which will give him a small income for both him and a dependant adult (you) and will also pay for his stamp. Your can get a prediction from DHS Blackpool, I think, regarding how many stamps you will need for a full pension, but if you are working and contributing to the Spanish system i think that you do not need to continue to pay stamps in UK. Your own local DSS office can keep you right on this. All of the preceding is just what I think. I can suggest looking at the following forum and asking there as it does seem to have some people who know the dss system.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=23

lovebird welcome to the forum.

You might want to look at these posts I have made about moving to Spain.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=31923&highlight=

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=16191&highlight=

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=23022&highlight=

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=16177&highlight=

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=30672&highlight=

I would suggest that you try to buy your peoperty asap as the prices are going up very quickly. As an example I maved here 3 year ago and I can now get 3 time the amount I first paid for my villa.

Yes you must contine to pay class 3 NI otherwise you will loose out on your pension

Any other info you want just post on here and I will try and answer it for you.

Yes you must contine to pay class 3 NI otherwise you will lose out on your pension

Don't you mean that you would be only entitled to a reduced pension, the amount depending on your number of years of contributions?

Don't you mean that you would be only entitled to a reduced pension, the amount depending on your number of years of contributions?

No if you continue to pay Class 3 NI payments you will get a full UK pension provided that there has not been any loss of payment before you start your Class 3 payments.

I am 3 years older than lovebird and I have just stopped paying my class 3 payments because I have completed 47 47th's as they call it and and payment that might be required between now and when I am 65 will be credited to me to give me a full UK pension.

That is why it is very important to pay class 3 otherwise if you stop making payments the pension you get will be prorata to the payments made.

I think we agree! That's what I was saying.

It was just that when you said "Yes you must contine to pay class 3 NI otherwise you will lose out on your pension", I, and maybe others, took it to mean that you were saying that you wouldn't get any pension at all .

I was just elaborating, so there wouldn't be any confusion for anyone who didn't know anything about it.

I assume from the above that Class 3 Nat Ins is a reduced payment and therefor worthwile.

Can anyone quote any figures here?

I assume from the above that Class 3 Nat Ins is a reduced payment and therefor worthwile.

Can anyone quote any figures here?

I am not sure if it is classed as a reduced payment because if it was you would not be entitled to a full UK pension if you made reduced payments.

The current payment for Class 3 for tax year 2005/6 is £382.20 pa payed by direct debit each month.

For basic state pension purposes your "working life" is 49 years and is counted from the start of the tax year in which you reach age 16 to the end of the last complete tax year before you reach state pension age.

To get a full basic state pension, you must have paid or been credited with enough full rate NI payments for 44 years. These are called "qualifying years".

Therefore if you reach the "qualifying years" at age 60 the remaining 5 years until you are 65 will be credited to you and you will get a full pension provided all NI payments have been made form the day you started work at 16.

Thank you a1gjv

Unfortunately some of us started paying NI much later than age 16 and moved to Spain long before age 65

However Class 3 at 382.20 pounds pa sounds a lot cheaper than Spanish Social Security at around 230 Euros per month.

Thank you a1gjv

Unfortunately some of us started paying NI much later than age 16 and moved to Spain long before age 65

However Class 3 at 382.20 pounds pa sounds a lot cheaper than Spanish Social Security at around 230 Euros per month.

Well you might be able to make up the difference I dont know you would have to contact the pension people in the UK for their advise, it seems a shame that you might loose out on a full pension.

By the way I am not 65 but younger than that but will still get a full pension at 65.

As regards your medical condition, I would strongly advise registering with the Spanish authorities as a resident .... after all Spain would be your principal (and sole?) place of residence. You will then be able to register with a local doctor and there is no reason why you should not continue to receive the same or equivalent medication as you receive in the UK plus continuing care.

Do be aware that you will need to check out the situation as regards income tax as you will still be liable to tax on your unearned income from the UK and have to pay it in Spain (you will be receiving it gross in the UK). A good financial advisor is imperative.

Thanks a1gyv for all the info - it has been a great help. We are going to start contacting DWP in September and get NI etc sorted before we go.
Do they also advise re wealth tax? That really made me smile as the only "wealth" we will have will be the profit from the house sale, a few quid but never the less we have both worked all of our lives to pay for the house and paid tax on the earnings.
The thought of a year out is keeping me going at the moment as we both went to work straight from school - our kids think it's great. We intend to get settled in a new home and then tour Spain for a while, if we are going to live there we need to know something about the place.

Alsacienne

As regards your medical condition, I would strongly advise registering with the Spanish authorities as a resident .... after all Spain would be your principal (and sole?) place of residence. You will then be able to register with a local doctor and there is no reason why you should not continue to receive the same or equivalent medication as you receive in the UK plus continuing care.

Do be aware that you will need to check out the situation as regards income tax as you will still be liable to tax on your unearned income from the UK and have to pay it in Spain (you will be receiving it gross in the UK). A good financial advisor is imperative.

I fully agree with the comment about Spanish residency and then you will get full medical cover here in the same vane as the UK. When you leave the UK you must apply for form E106 which will give you medical cover from the Spanish system untill you can get you residency sorted out and the get the Spanish medical card. You are full entitled to FULL medical cover on the same lines as you got in the UK because Spain is in the EU, don't let anyboby tell you different, they will try but you must keep on to them.

With regard to tax I would suggest you keep an address in the UK say one of your childrens or a friend and carry on paying UK income tax it is much better that way, then if and when you have to get a part time job here try and get it cash in hand if possible.

Do they also advise re wealth tax? That really made me smile as the only "wealth" we will have will be the profit from the house sale, a few quid but never the less we have both worked all of our lives to pay for the house and paid tax on the earnings.

I may be wrong but you should not pay any wealth tax on the sale of your home just the normal tax that you pay during house sales. I know I did not pay any when I sold my house in the UK and moved here.

Where are you thinking of moving to as I think it is a good idea to come and see what it is like where you want to go during summer and winter as there can be a big difference between the too. When you start thinking about buying over here I would suggest you go to the local estate agents in the area you intend to settle because if you go with these property companies you will only see what they want you to see and not what you want and you could miss out on your dream home which might be just round the corner and cost less. Let me stress I have nothing against property companies but I would hate you to miss the home you want. If I did not look at local estate agents I would not have the house I have now.
Be advised that peoperty prices are going up quite quick here, in the 3 year I have been here I could sell my house for 3 time what I paid for it.

I hope this has been of help and if you think of anything else you want to know about just post it here or send a PM and if I know the answer then I will tell you. The last thing I will add is you need to start the ball rolling now because some things take time to get sorted. One good thing about buying out her is it is very quick not like the UK, it took me a week from the time I saw the house to the time I moved in.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. Good news about the E106. Bad news - cannot buy this year as we have daughters wedding in autumn, then we can go a head and sell our house. We will be looking on Costa Blanca north of Benidorm as friends are due to retire to that area in two years time. We have already been there over the past few years spring, summer and also in January, really love the area. Easyjet go to Alicante from John Lennon Airport so it will be handy for friends and family to come out and us to visit home.

Liverbird check with the NI contributions because once you get past 20 or so years of contribution you get the minimum pension then you have to weigh up paying the extra every year against how much extra you will get when you are pension age and the other thing to consider when you do the maths is how many years past 65 do you hope to make If you ask them they will provide a pensions forecast for you.

Sorry - I cannot condone the advice given to keep a UK address for the payment of income tax if you register as a Spanish resident for the purpose of getting medical treatment as I advised!

You can only claim UK residency if you are in the country for MORE than 183 days in the tax year. If you declare residency in Spain, then you are deemed to pay tax (even if it is from revenue gained in the UK) in Spain.

Obviously keep a UK bank account current for sterling payments - but you will have to quote your Spanish address (as I do here in France). It might seem reasonable to use your children's or a friend's address but if you do not actually live there physically for 184 days ... you will be setting up a great deal of trouble for yourself, and breaking the law to boot. That you can certainly do without.

NB Class 3 are 'voluntary' contributions and if paid in full for the period between your last employed or self-employed contributions (Classes 2 and 3) and your retirement, you should be entitled to FULL pension rights.

If you declare residency in Spain, then you are deemed to pay tax (even if it is from revenue gained in the UK) in Spain.

Not neccessarily. If you receive an occupational pension from the government or local authority, it will be taxed in the UK.

Alan

Not neccessarily. If you receive an occupational pension from the government or local authority, it will be taxed in the UK.

That's what I was about to say also any income in the UK even if you are a spanish resident is taxed in the uk, likewise any earnings from Spain are taxed in Spain you will not be require to pay tax twice on the same money earned i.e here and the UK.

We live permanently in Costa Blanca. I have found the book Living and Working in Spain by David Hampshire invaluable he has lots of differnet books but is updated each year. I bought from Amazon

Check out costa blanca news on the web as there is often information in there