Part 2: Do you know where all of your pensions are?

Many residents of Bermuda, such as native-born individuals, multinationals integrated into the Bermuda family culture, and globally mobile guest workers have rights to foreign pensions in other countries. Often, they are not aware of these pensions, or have (surprise) completely forgotten the factual circumstances.

You may have accrued enough foreign employment earnings credits to apply for — and receive — a foreign government (or employer) pension in your own right. You also may be eligible for some type of a pension from another country through your rights of marriage, widow(er)hood, or disability through your own record, your spouse, former spouse, or possibly your parents’ work records.

Here are the summaries, in general, of two of the four countries’ Social Security / Government Pension rules: Bermuda and the United Kingdom. Keep in mind that tax laws are subject to change without notice, and that you should always contact the source provider to verify general information.

Bermuda Government Pensions Old Age Pension.

1 Contributory Pension

You are entitled to a Contributory Pension if you:

are 65 or over; and

— have paid or been credited with a specified number of contributions

— and the average number of contributions paid and/or credited is between 25 and 50 a year.

— The amount you receive will depend on the total contributions and number of years you have been part of the plan.

You may qualify whether you stop work or not.

2 Non-Contributory Pension

You qualify for a Non-Contributory Pension if you:

— do not qualify for a Contributory Pension; and

— are 65 and living in Bermuda; and

— are Bermudian and

— have been ordinarily resident here for a period of not less than 10 years during the 20 years before you apply.

3 Contributory Old Age Gratuity is awarded if you paid into the plan but failed to meet the requirements for a Contributory Pension. The gratuity is actually a refund of the total contributions paid into the plan by you and on your behalf.

Confusion tends to reign with the Old Age Gratuity, particularly with guest workers who will not be employed in Bermuda long enough, generally, to qualify for a contributory pension. Per the Government website, the question, “As an ex pat am I able to receive back what I contributed into social insurance?” Article Number: 1131, the answer is that “If the individual is of 65 yrs or older, he or she is eligible to get back whatever contributions were paid into the government pension. They will need to fill out the application for a contributory old age pension/gratuity which can be found on our website.”

Detailed information on variances in situations, contributions, timing, and individual circumstances are specifically answered by searching the highly popular Frequently Asked Questions page. Space does not permit the coverage here, however, clicking on the Bermuda Social Insurance section at http://www.gov.bm.knowledgebase.co/search.php allows infinite searches and the ability to submit your specific question to the department. If further clarification is needed, you can contact the benefits administrators directly at (441) 294-9242.

United Kingdom State Pension Plans. Applying for a UK government pension as an expat living abroad, as an individual who may have worked within the UK employment economy, is quite convoluted. Excerpts from the blog Roving Jay Expat Adventures* provide an informal but very detailed step by step process on establishing rights to, and claiming your UK Pension.

Each component of the narrative is accompanied by links to the “plethora of UK Government websites” whose access is needed to file your claim.

If you are determined enough to wade through this pension claims lesson, try this UK expat blogger for a good overview first, but as with any information provided for your personal financial security, be sure to independently verify your UK pension record and accompanying benefits / payment schedules by using the links to the UK Government site below. The beauty and speed of the internet means that you absolutely will need access to a computer or co-operative assistance from a good computer-literate friend.

Links to various linked sites to start the process along with the website for printing the entire UK Basic State Pension Guide are below.

You will be directed to use the State Pension calculator to estimate how much you will receive online on in the post. Further, you can apply for a National Insurance statement from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to ascertain if your pension record has gaps, then apply for your current State Pension statement.

There are contained within the State Pension Guide instructions regarding your rights and your survivors relative to your pension along with information regarding deferring payments for further accumulation of benefits.

A little known fact regarding the UK State Pension structure is that the site will also direct you on how

a) you can make voluntary contributions to “fill in or top up” years that you may have missed contributing during employment — possibly due to working abroad, or other personal life changes;

b) and if you are a Bermuda resident employee who has paid into the Bermuda Old Age Contributor plan, you can arrange to have those payments reciprocated** to your UK pension account;

c) where the UK site will provide you with the specific instructions on how to top up that pension plan from abroad.

**The question often arises as to the ability to transfer a Bermuda pension contributions to another country. The answer is no, contributions cannot be transferred to another country. There is however a reciprocal agreement with the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland that allows the contributions to be combined, if a person has provided contributions in either the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland. For further information please contact the Department of Social Insurance Benefits department at (441) 294-9242.

Please see the Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.gov.bm.knowledgebase.co/article/can-contributions-be-transferred-to-another-country-954.html

Roving Jay Expat Adventures, September 07, 2013, “UK State Pensions for Expat’s Abroad.”

http://www.rovingjay.com/uk-state-pension-expat/

UK Government at gov.uk State Pension if you retire abroad

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/overview

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/what-youll-get

https://www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension

Print the entire Guide https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/print

Other country pension plans. Bermuda residents are frequently exhaustive world travellers. Your employment career may have taken you to other countries not discussed here. The US Social Security Administration Office of Retirement and Disability website network has a wonderful section of analysis on many, many government and pension retirement plans on a global basis. Hopefully, you can find your specific overseas pension work record in any other country where you may have lived and worked.

Titled Social Security Programs Throughout the World. It covers the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific and Africa and is available at

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/

Part 3, we will cover the Canadian and US Social Insurance / Social Security plan information for those residents abroad who may have a claim to a pension from either, or both of these countries.

Disclosure: This article is presented solely for educational and informational purposes. The author is not offering the content as legal, tax, financial planning, or other professional services advice. Tax law and government regulations are subject to change without notice. While best efforts have been used in preparing this article, the author makes no representations or warranties of any kind and assumes no liabilities of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents. Individuals should seek the services of professionally qualified professionals for their personal financial planning.

Martha Harris Myron CPA CFP Masters of Law: International Tax and Financial Services, Summa Cum Laude

Appointed to the Professional Tax Advisory Council, American Citizens Abroad, Geneva, Switzerland

President: The Pondstraddler* Life™ Consultancy providing international financial planning for the challenging lifestyles of multinational individuals and their families residing, working, crossing borders, and straddling ponds in the North Atlantic Quadrangle. Specific focus for residents of Bermuda, the premier international finance centre. www.marthamyron.com Contact: martha@pondstraddler.com

* Pondstraddler. A person with one foot on each shore whose heart resides in both countries*