P*$$ of Squirrelecureilx wrote:SMS, I told you, BBCW is a clone of JR8 !
Nope, you're (probably) in luck! The U.S. and the U.K. (and some other countries) have social security totalization treaties. You'll be able to claim a modest U.S. Social Security retirement benefit because you should have at least 6 credits in the U.S. system, the minimum when you're counting treaty country contributions. (Nontrivial contributions within any two calendar years, even separated calendar years, should easily get you at least those minimum 6 credits. In 2016 you get one U.S. Social Security credit per $1260 of taxable earned income, and that figure was lower in previous years. So, you should be fine.) When the time comes just tell the U.S. Social Security Administration about your other contributions to any/all other treaty countries, including the U.K. As long as you hit 10 years total across treaty countries you'll have a U.S. benefit. Same thing on the U.K. side -- they'll count your U.S. credits if you need them to hit the 10 year mark on the U.K. side (their minimum). Yes, you can cross-qualify that way and collect from both systems. So 2 or 3 in the U.S. and 7 or 8 in the U.K. should be enough on both sides, as an example.JR8 wrote:Seems pretty dumb now when for example I've 2-3 years of likely worthless contributions made to the US system and a contemporaneous hole in my UK record, but that's how that particular relo-package happened to be set up.
That's good to hear! And your spouse gets a benefit too, if you have one. [If you don't have a spouse, the U.S. will pay a "signing bonus" in the form of a spousal retirement and survivors annuity. ]JR8 wrote:But from what you outline it suggests that I'd have paid in enough to have accrued some form of US entitlement.
Once you're "vested," probably not, I agree -- and especially if you'd be locked out of annual U.K. NI cost of living increases because you happen to live in the wrong country.Whether or not it's worth maintaining NI payments beyond the minimum threshold... don't know.
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