13/11/2009 London- Britain’s who want to retire abroad may have to do so a lot older than they anticipate and those who have taken the plunge are losing money everyday from currency fluctuations. A survey found that British workers are too optimistic about the age at which they will be able to retire, with just a third conceding they will work beyond 65, a survey shows.
The retirement poll conducted by You Gov asked 1,400 British workers at what age they saw themselves retiring. 22 per cent saw themselves working until 60 or younger and 44 per cent until just 65. Men are more likely to think they will work past 65, with 38 per cent saying so compared with 31 per cent of women.
The Conservatives said last month that this was not ambitious enough, and proposed rising the pension age to 66 in 2016 — a decade earlier than Labor’s plans. They said this would save £13 billion a year. Meanwhile, the Institute of Directors and National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) have recently suggested that the pension age should be raised to 70.
Gillian Dowling, an employment consultant at Croner, said: “There are definite signs that the retirement age is going to increase but, as our research shows, people are still unsure of what to expect and are not preparing to work past 65.
The Expatriate website Shelter Offshore found that Brits who have already retired abroad away from the UK have lost out to the tune of billions from currency fluctuations over the past two years, and even greater numbers of British retirees are losing up to 40% a year on what they should be receiving from their annuity.
Retired Brits abroad are being charged monthly for international transfers of their pension income as well, and all in all, Brits who should be living the dream abroad in retirement are being ripped off left right and centre
In perhaps more tangible terms what this translates to for those who are living abroad and earning their income in pounds from the UK is that they are suffering month in, month out – and have seen the value of their pension income simply eroded. Just in the last 3 months alone, Brits living in New Zealand and receiving the state pension from UK have lost £100 a month because of the pound’s decline, those in America have lost £34.18 a month, and those living in the Eurozone have lost £50.72. (Figures from HiFX)
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