State Pension if you retire abroad (2024)

FAQs

Can I still get my pension if I live abroad? ›

Personal and workplace pensions

If you're in a personal or workplace pension scheme, moving abroad shouldn't have any effect: your pension should continue to be paid in full. you're normally entitled to any rises regardless of where you live in the world.

If you earned Social Security benefits, you can visit or live in most foreign countries and still receive payments.

Receiving your state pension shouldn't cause any difficulties if you retire to Australia. You can either keep your UK account and have your state payments paid into it, or have it paid into an Australian bank account.

If you have social security credits in both the United States and the United Kingdom, you may be eligible for benefits from one or both countries. If you meet all the basic requirements under one country's system, you will get a regular benefit from that country.

For Retirement and Disability benefits

Your Social Security benefit might be reduced if you get a pension from an employer who wasn't required to withhold Social Security taxes. This reduction is called the “Windfall Elimination Provision” (WEP). It most commonly affects government work or work in other countries.

If you leave the U.S., we will stop your benefits the month after the sixth calendar month in a row that you are outside the country. You can make visits to the United States for specific periods of time, depending on how long you've been outside, to continue receiving your benefits.

The Social Security five-year rule is the time period in which you can file for an expedited reinstatement after your Social Security disability benefits have been terminated completely due to work.

You'll need 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any new State Pension. A qualifying year is one in which you were: working and made National Insurance contributions. getting National Insurance credits for example if you were unemployed, ill or a parent or carer.

Many British expats living in the US are surprised to discover they still qualify for a State Pension (SP) in the UK. If you worked in the UK for at least 10 years (and paid National Insurance contributions during that time) then you will qualify for the SP.

Unfortunately, pensions aren't portable like other retirement accounts. You can't simply transfer your account from one state to another, and you will likely lose service time. However, you may be able to retain at least some of your benefits – depending on whether you're vested.

Can I claim UK State Pension in USA? ›

You can claim State Pension abroad if you've paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify. Get a State Pension forecast if you need to find out how much State Pension you may get.

If you are a U.S. citizen, you may receive your Social Security payments outside the U.S. as long as you are eligible for them. However, there are certain countries to which we are not allowed to send payments.

Your UK State Pension if you've lived or worked abroad

Your UK State Pension will be based on your UK National Insurance record. You need 10 years of UK National Insurance contributions to be eligible for the new State Pension. You may be able to use time spent abroad to make up the 10 qualifying years.

Under the worldwide income tax rules, U.S. persons are required to include their foreign pension income on Form 1040. While this can get very complicated, let's take a step back and look at the basics of including a foreign pension income on Form 1040.

You must choose which country you want your pension to be paid in. You cannot be paid in one country for part of the year and another for the rest of the year.

You can leave your money in your pension pot and take lump sums from it as and when you need, until your money runs out or you choose another option. You can decide when you make withdrawals and how much to you take out.

Some countries may require you to sell your stocks before you move, while others may allow you to keep them but under certain conditions. Each country's regulations can have varying impacts on your stocks, including tax consequences and accessibility.