Social Security questions

I had an email from the FBU today in response to me submitting the online form.  It took about 22 working days.  They say they''ll be in touch within another 30 working days.

FYI for WEP you don't include UK state pension amounts that are not from UK earnings, examples would be due to voluntary NI contributions and credits you
might have got when attending college.

FYI for WEP you don't include UK state pension amounts that are not from UK earnings, examples would be due to voluntary NI contributions and credits you
might have got when attending college.

Thanks for the reminder,  and your contributions history on the HMRC website will help in determining this.

So currently the OAP is £168.60/week for a full 35 years worth of contributions. i.e. £4.82 for every year of contributions.  If the number of years you have actually worked in the UK is 15 then you would report that as £72.25/week for WEP purposes even though you may be receiving much more than this due to voluntary contributions plus credits due to being at college and being a stay at home mother. (My wife has 3 years of credit while at university plus 6 years of credit while she was not working and we had at least one child under age 5, plus 11 years of voluntary NICs)

At this point though, since I'm a way off 66, I won't need to include my UK state pension at all.  And since I'm not taking my UK company pensions until 65 I won't be inlcuding those either.  Is that correct or have I misunderstood the post from earlier?

Just as an update. Today I received my first SS payment, direct to Lloyds bank. Once I noticed it was there I checked what I would have gotten through Transferwise. It's always hard to tell since the exchange rates have been moving a lot in the last day or so, but "maybe?" I didn't get quite as much as if I went through T-wise. About £12 difference....but that could easily be the changing rates at the moment.

Just as an update. Today I received my first SS payment, direct to Lloyds bank. Once I noticed it was there I checked what I would have gotten through Transferwise. It's always hard to tell since the exchange rates have been moving a lot in the last day or so, but "maybe?" I didn't get quite as much as if I went through T-wise. About £12 difference....but that could easily be the changing rates at the moment.

Thanks for the update, and congratulations on getting through the process. Still got almost 4 years to go before DW applies for hers. (I’m waiting until 70 as mine will be double hers and I expect to die first so want to maximize her income going forward).

The exchange rates have certainly been pinging around a lot recently. It dropped to less than £1 to $1.2 on the news there may be a General Election next month, and only 1.2 when I just looked now.

The exchange rates have certainly been pinging around a lot recently. It dropped to less than £1 to $1.2 on the news there may be a General Election next month, and only 1.2 when I just looked now.

I made a transfer at 1.1986 this morning.  Best rate I've ever had.

I made a transfer at 1.1986 this morning.  Best rate I've ever had.

You've convinced me. I just made another transfer. Rate including fees* was 1.212. I made one last week at 1.234 and one in July at 1.223.

*I divide $'s sent by £'s received

You've convinced me. I just made another transfer. Rate including fees* was 1.212. I made one last week at 1.234 and one in July at 1.223.

*I divide $'s sent by £'s received

Using your calculation method to include the fee, I got an effective rate of 1.2079.  So not quite as good as 1.1986, but still the best rate I've ever had.

Thanks for the update, and congratulations on getting through the process. Still got almost 4 years to go before DW applies for hers. (I’m waiting until 70 as mine will be double hers and I expect to die first so want to maximize her income going forward).

I just went ahead and started it at 62. Afraid I'm just one of those people who don't trust the govt to fix things (SS).....I'd rather have it now. And....simply....between the pension and SS it pays for all our monthly expenses plus a bit.

Just as an update. Today I received my first SS payment, direct to Lloyds bank. Once I noticed it was there I checked what I would have gotten through Transferwise. It's always hard to tell since the exchange rates have been moving a lot in the last day or so, but "maybe?" I didn't get quite as much as if I went through T-wise. About £12 difference....but that could easily be the changing rates at the moment.

Interesting. My 2 Aug payment was about £6 more than my 3 Sept payment. I had expected to have a bit more in today's payment than I got back in August, as the rates are better, not less. I wonder what's going on there?

I'm not too worried about it......I'm just glad I can have that SS money sent straight here without using T-wise. I should have my retirement savings all moved over here in about 9 months or so....then a couple of years from now I plan to take my wife off my US taxes and try to have my pension sent directly here as well. At that time I shouldn't need (I hope) my US bank anymore....or Transferwise. Hopefully any tax refunds etc I can have sent over here (I've no idea really....).

Interesting. My 2 Aug payment was about £6 more than my 3 Sept payment. I had expected to have a bit more in today's payment than I got back in August, as the rates are better, not less. I wonder what's going on there?

My understanding, based on a discussion I followed some years ago, is that the exchange rate is fixed when the US start their payments.  People in that discussion were complaining that the rate had changed over the years and that they were now losing out - but once the rate is set it's never reviewed.  Of course, there's winners and losers.  Some were suggesting (good luck!) that the US should review the rate periodically, say every year.  So, if I'm right, the difference you're seeing in your monthly payments isn't due to fluctuating exchange rate.  I could be wrong though.

BTW, I'm still waiting for my phone call from the FBU.

My understanding, based on a discussion I followed some years ago, is that the exchange rate is fixed when the US start their payments.  People in that discussion were complaining that the rate had changed over the years and that they were now losing out - but once the rate is set it's never reviewed.  Of course, there's winners and losers.  Some were suggesting (good luck!) that the US should review the rate periodically, say every year.  So, if I'm right, the difference your seeing in your monthly payments isn't due to fluctuating exchange rate.  I could be wrong though.

Nope. It's different every month. The rate I am paid in dollars changes only with the COLA every year. How that ends up as £ in my UK bank changes monthly. Until this month's disbursement it was pretty much matching the exchange rate. But this month's is slightly off - I'm getting a dollar as being equivalent to £1.2235 when the exchange rate this morning was around 1.19. Hmmm. Perhaps it was higher just after midnight, when they dumped the money into the Irish bank to transfer over to me in pounds?

I just went ahead and started it at 62. Afraid I'm just one of those people who don't trust the govt to fix things (SS).....I'd rather have it now. And....simply....between the pension and SS it pays for all our monthly expenses plus a bit.

My wife is a USC and used to dealing with US SS. I recall that your UK wife wants as little to do as possible with the US tax and benefits system so it is perfectly understandable. My wife will also lose 50% of my US private pension when I die so am trying to even that up somewhat as when I die she will also lose either my SS or her SS, whichever is lower, plus she will lose my UK OAP.