[1kaipa]

Spain has a minimum and maximum amount on its state pension. The maximum amount in 2019 was €2,617.53.

Spanish pensions: how to retire in Spain

Here's what you need to know about spending your golden years in Spain.

www.expatica.com

Maximum Spanish pension is quite good then.

It is good but like I say you need to have made max contributions. 37 years full time right up to the last year-and there in lies the problem. It can be hard to retain full time contracts for 37 years especially in your last years. This is why people compete so heavily for funcionario jobs- it fixes them into long term contracts. UK is less pension but you could say it favours those who work less and basically once you reach the requisite years you can take your foot of the pedal- even take early retirement. Not the case in Spain.

 

[dancingspider]

I met a girl last Thursday who has to be mid career and she told me she was studying towards a funcionario job. It did leave me a bit puzzled, but after you've said what you did, the penny has dropped!

Having scanned the posts on my phone, I think if you've enough pension years imported from the UK, it might be possible to go at 65, with the Spanish pension.

 

[redrobin]

Thanks to everyone for there comments on my original question.
Its now clear to me that i should claim both my Spanish and UK pensions seperately.
The conditions for requesting the Spanish pension "anticipado voluntario" are that you must be at least 65 years old and have minimum contribution of 35 years.
In my particular case i will never get to have 38 years contributions in order to get the maximum Spanish pension (3175,04€ in 2024) which means they will reduce this amount by 5% when making the final calculation.
As i have contributed 32 years into the UK state pension i will claim this seperately but will not receive the full amount. The difference between having 32 or 35 years NICs is a minimal amout which i can handle.

 

[Mrabc]

I am in the same situation.

Regarding Spain I have bought a book called De Cara a la Jubilation by Ignacio Solsona and it is very good.
For a contributory pension - You have to have worked for 2 years in the last 15 years or qualify under the Doctrina de Paréntesis.

You can fill lagunas (gaps) in your years to increase them for having had children, for looking after them, etc.

For a non contributory pension there are rules about having lived in Spain for 10 years and then living there for the last two before you request this pension - as long as you don't earn over a certain amount of income per year.

Ignacio Solsona has you-tubes which explain a lot about the Spanish pension.

I understand now that you can request both the UK and Spanish pensions separately (if the calculations are better obviously).

We have until April / July 2025 to buy back national insurance years from 2006-2016. The benefit of the UK pension is that it is inflation proofed.

 

[dancingspider]

The advantate of the Spanish pension is that you can get €3,058.81 (£2624), but you only get a max of €1116 (£958) with the UK pension, per month.
Bit of a no brainer!
The question is if you actually are lucky enough to get both, and you live in Spain, what taxes are applied to these?

 

[1kaipa]

The advantate of the Spanish pension is that you can get €3,058.81 (£2624), but you only get a max of €1116 (£958) with the UK pension, per month.
Bit of a no brainer!
The question is if you actually are lucky enough to get both, and you live in Spain, what taxes are applied to these?

But you don't get a full Spanish pension by transferring your UK pension say 32 years and adding it to your Spanish contributions say 5 years. It is not that simple. The Spanish one is worked out by contributing years and the size of your contributions whereas UK one you just need to make minimum contribution over 35 years.

 

[dancingspider]

Yes, understand the rules are different to calculate the two pensions.
Also, as we are on a Spanish forum mostly frequnted by British living in Spain, quite likely they spent the first part of their working life in the UK and the latter part in Spain.
i am guessing that it it a prerequisite that a minimum of 15 years are required to get the Spanish pension, if you are thinking of combining the UK and Spainish pensions.
But that is not what I am referring to in my previous post.
My question is, if you actually are lucky enough to get both, and you live in Spain, what taxes (or other reductions) are applied to these...?

 

[Lynn R]

Yes, understand the rules are different to calculate the two pensions.
Also, as we are on a Spanish forum mostly frequnted by British living in Spain, quite likely they spent the first part of their working life in the UK and the latter part in Spain.
i am guessing that it it a prerequisite that a minimum of 15 years are required to get the Spanish pension, if you are thinking of combining the UK and Spainish pensions.
But that is not what I am referring to in my previous post.
My question is, if you actually are lucky enough to get both, and you live in Spain, what taxes (or other reductions) are applied to these...?

If they are both state pensions (Spanish and English) then they are both taxable in Spain and would just be added together and entered as income on your tax return. The tax allowance would be €6,700 (for anyone aged 65 or over) which increases to €8,100 when you reach 75, plus the €2,000 general allowance.

 

[dancingspider]

Thank you Lynn

 

[sjd4vies]

Hi ,
I would like some information regarding how to claim both the UK and state pensions.
Have seen some useful posts that give examples but none that cover my particular situation , so maybe someone can give some input.
I am 65 years old and have paid 35 years and 2 months contibutions to the Spanish Social Security in order to receive the Spanish pension - in theory i could claim the Spanish pension now but would receive a reduced rate as i do not have the full amount of qualifying years.

I have also continued paying Class 2 contributions to the UK and currently have 32 years of full contributions according to the latest pension forecast i received.
I cannot claim my UK pension until i reach 66 in january 2025.

My question is , should i ask the Spanish authorities to take the years i have contributed in the UK into account when calculating my Spanish pension or would it be more beneficial to claim both pensions seperately?

My understanding is that i have a claim to pensions from Spain as well as the UK.

I have inquired at my local INSS office but nobody could give me a clear answer as they have not come across my particular circumstances before.

Any comments will be much appreciated.
Thanks

Hi
Yes I Have 28 years in Spain and 22 years in UK with voluntary payments and I will retire in 2 years----- my uk pension is about £730 a month at the moment and should reach £900 in 2 years
and my spanish pension is about £700 in 2 years time=========Total. £1,600. If you combine the two you will get the FulL uk pension which is the highest of the two and will be in the region of £1,200 in two years time
The numbers speak for themselves -------Two pensions are better than one

 

[sjd4vies]

The UK one raises every year does it not? They are now raised by what is called triple lock.
Here is a comparison from the OCED
The UK
Spain
I do not feel that the Spanish pension is lot more generous.

For the Average worker the Spanish Pension is Crap and the majority of people are living on the breadline
the maximum spanish pension is about £2,700 a month and the minimum about £280 a month
the average pension in Spain is about £500 a month and there are no Tax credits or Housing benefits

 

[1kaipa]

Hi
Yes I Have 28 years in Spain and 22 years in UK with voluntary payments and I will retire in 2 years----- my uk pension is about £730 a month at the moment and should reach £900 in 2 years
and my spanish pension is about £700 in 2 years time=========Total. £1,600. If you combine the two you will get the FulL uk pension which is the highest of the two and will be in the region of £1,200 in two years time
The numbers speak for themselves -------Two pensions are better than one

Yes this is true but you have contributed for more than 15 years in Spain so you can claim 2 separate pensions. If you had only 14 years in Spain you could not have two separate pensions.

 

[dancingspider]

Assuming you have made the required number of years contributions to qualify for a full pension.
Prior to retirening, what salary do you need to get the £2,700 a month pension in Spain?

 

[Lynn R]

Assuming you have made the required number of years contributions to qualify for a full pension.
Prior to retirening, what salary do you need to get the £2,700 a month pension in Spain?

The figure for 2023 was €3,568 per month, apparently.

Esto es lo que tienes que ganar para cobrar la pensión máxima de 3.059 euros en 2023 (elespanol.com)

 

[Mrabc]

Yes you are in a good position to get to full pensions. I won't make 15 years by the time my UK one kicks in. I could mix the UK part with the Spanish part and try and get a Spanish pension but it is not quite as simple as just years it is also worked out on effectively on if you worked full or part time so I think I will need to get a Spanish forecast and compare that with the UK one.

The new law of pensions 2023 - part time years are counted as full years for pension purposes to help the gender gap.
Despite my social security certificate reflecting a reduced number of years due to part time work when I asked Social Security said that I would have an extra 4 years added plus extra days for the birth of each child.

 

[neilben]

Hi
Yes I Have 28 years in Spain and 22 years in UK with voluntary payments and I will retire in 2 years----- my uk pension is about £730 a month at the moment and should reach £900 in 2 years
and my spanish pension is about £700 in 2 years time=========Total. £1,600. If you combine the two you will get the FulL uk pension which is the highest of the two and will be in the region of £1,200 in two years time
The numbers speak for themselves -------Two pensions are better than one

Just read your post and wondered if you could clarify. Are you saying that if you claim your UK and Spanish pensions at the same time, i.e. through Spain, you would receive less than you would get claiming them separately? Wouldn’t you at least get the separate amounts corresponding to each set of contributions? Or do overlapping contributions somehow cancel each other out?
In any case, claiming them together means you lose a year or so of the UK pension, given the different retirement ages.
I ask because I’m 64 and retire in 3 years at 67. After paying voluntary contributions I will have the full UK pension and 24 years of the Spanish pension. My idea is to claim the UK pension separately in July 66 (the UK pension service told me I can do this), complete my final 10 months of working life in Spain, and then claim the Spanish pension in May 67. From what many have said on this and other threads, this is possible. It’s just some say that you are obliged to ask for the 2 together, which surely cannot be the case?
My other niggling doubt is whether I will have a problem receiving my UK pension while still working in Spain for the final 10 months until my Spanish pension kicks in. I assume my UK pension will simply be taxed as income alongside my earned income from work… It just sounds odd to be technically retired in the UK but not in Spain…

 

[1kaipa]

Just read your post and wondered if you could clarify. Are you saying that if you claim your UK and Spanish pensions at the same time, i.e. through Spain, you would receive less than you would get claiming them separately? Wouldn’t you at least get the separate amounts corresponding to each set of contributions? Or do overlapping contributions somehow cancel each other out?
In any case, claiming them together means you lose a year or so of the UK pension, given the different retirement ages.
I ask because I’m 64 and retire in 3 years at 67. After paying voluntary contributions I will have the full UK pension and 24 years of the Spanish pension. My idea is to claim the UK pension separately in July 66 (the UK pension service told me I can do this), complete my final 10 months of working life in Spain, and then claim the Spanish pension in May 67. From what many have said on this and other threads, this is possible. It’s just some say that you are obliged to ask for the 2 together, which surely cannot be the case?
My other niggling doubt is whether I will have a problem receiving my UK pension while still working in Spain for the final 10 months until my Spanish pension kicks in. I assume my UK pension will simply be taxed as income alongside my earned income from work… It just sounds odd to be technically retired in the UK but not in Spain…

Yes you can get your UK pension separately from UK on their retirement age. You can then keep working in Spain until you reach their pension age and get a Spanish pension based on the number of years you have paid contributions. You only put the 2 pensions together if you don't reach full pension in both countries- this way you can achieve a full pension but only from the last country you worked in.

 

[neilben]

Yes you can get your UK pension separately from UK on their retirement age. You can then keep working in Spain until you reach their pension age and get a Spanish pension based on the number of years you have paid contributions. You only put the 2 pensions together if you don't reach full pension in both countries- this way you can achieve a full pension but only from the last country you worked in.

Can I ask if you know all this for a fact or are expressing an opinion about how it should work? I’m not doubting you but it's just I’m reading so many conflicting opinions and articles, some suggesting that we are obliged to claim the pensions together, and even that overlapping contributions will cancel each other out. I’ve just received a letter from HMRC saying I can fill my gaps back to 2006 with voluntary contributions and the UK future pensions centre told me that would get me the full pension but want to be sure I’m not going to somehow wipe out my Spanish contributions in the same period. So just wondering about the source of your information. Thanks a lot.

 

[1kaipa]

Can I ask if you know all this for a fact or are expressing an opinion about how it should work? I’m not doubting you but it's just I’m reading so many conflicting opinions and articles, some suggesting that we are obliged to claim the pensions together, and even that overlapping contributions will cancel each other out. I’ve just received a letter from HMRC saying I can fill my gaps back to 2006 with voluntary contributions and the UK future pensions centre told me that would get me the full pension but want to be sure I’m not going to somehow wipe out my Spanish contributions in the same period. So just wondering about the source of your information. Thanks a lot.

My position is simply through research as I have not reached pension age. There are people here that have both pensions so obviously two pensions are possible. What is certain is that 15 years gets you some degree of a Spanish pension you don't lose those years if you take a UK pension - if you did then it would be foolish for anyone to be automino and basically find that you had worked for possibly two decades paying the Spanish government huge amounts of money for nothing!!!

 

[neilben]

My position is simply through research as I have not reached pension age. There are people here that have both pensions so obviously two pensions are possible. What is certain is that 15 years gets you some degree of a Spanish pension you don't lose those years if you take a UK pension - if you did then it would be foolish for anyone to be automino and basically find that you had worked for possibly two decades paying the Spanish government huge amounts of money for nothing!!!

Ok thanks. What you say makes sense. I didn’t doubt you can get 2 pensions, just whether overlapping years count. But just this morning I rang the international pensions centre and the man confirmed I would claim the UK pension first (at 66, although he thought that might change soon to 67!) and then the Spanish separately, and insisted that one state pension has no bearing on another in terms of eligibility. Which coincides with what you have said and makes sense as they are different systems. I have also written to the INSS online to ask the same thing, so will see what they say if and when they respond. In any case I will go ahead and buy the 18 years of voluntary contributions that HMRC has approved so as not to lose the opportunity and hope for the best.