Ex Pats are on a roll......

Hi Guys I hope the English take advantage of the strong sterling, now is the time to buy a property here in paradise, I was talking to a retired man las Week down in the Boulavard another great success, he told me that when he changes his pension to Euros if he waits for 3 Days he will get 50% return on his money that is fantastic, that is as good as the Irish pension or possibly better, €560 is the Iriish pension for a couple and when you are over 80 Years it is €580 so you could live like a king here for that...........

Strong Sterling. ! 

I expect you mean compared with recent years.

In 2002 when the Euro began trading as a currency the rate was 1.65 euros to the £.  It is now 1.34, so almost 20% down.

And I do not understand what you mean about,, waiting 3 days and the 50'% return

Hi Guys I hope the English take advantage of the strong sterling, now is the time to buy a property here in paradise, I was talking to a retired man las Week down in the Boulavard another great success, he told me that when he changes his pension to Euros if he waits for 3 Days he will get 50% return on his money that is fantastic, that is as good as the Irish pension or possibly better, €560 is the Iriish pension for a couple and when you are over 80 Years it is €580 so you could live like a king here for that...........

Hi ob123.

Are you meaning €560 a week pension or €560 for the month?

As in my book a €560 month you could live like a pauper...€560 week is another story.

Well I've managed to find the 2006 rates, for folk aged 80+ it was €203.30 p/w. So assuming a reasonable 3% escalation rate p/a it would currently be €265.26 p/w, giving an annual pension of €13,793.57. The age 66 to 80 rate in 2006 was €193.30 p/w, so using the same assumptions it would currently be €13,115.05 p/a.

The maximum UK state pension including the Basic State Pension, SERPS, the Second State Pansion and the Graduated Pension Scheme is £12,500 p/a, however very few get this amount, so all in all our Irish neighbours are doing very nicely.

Hephaestus. 

                      I am not sure what point you are trying to make, but just for the record, based on my last 4 week , 75 year old, UK married person, State pension, I am on 14,700€ odd p.a.

I'm not attempting to make any point, just stating a fact and a resonable assumption. 

just stating a fact        The maximum UK state pension including the Basic State Pension, SERPS, the Second State Pansion and the Graduated Pension Scheme is £12,500 p/a, however very few get this amount,

But that is not  'a fact'.     It is wrong.  I am on 14,700€ odd p.a.

€14,500 p/a is circa £11,300 p/a, where am I wrong? If you are Irish you will note that I used a 3% escalation rate, a higher one would produce a higher pension.

If you still question this I suggest that you log into www.finfacts.ie/fincentre/statepension.htm

You will note the word 'facts' in this address.  

As I was 65 last Monday (sob, old and decrepit that I now am), my joint pension will be a little over £195 a week. That's about €13,587 (on the current tourist exchange rate) a year. And also the quoting of tax allowances in Spain is wrong. On top of the basic allowance, there is also married person's allowance of around €3400, a general allowance of €2400 and other things you can claim like age related etc. My tax adviser tells me I won't be paying any tax on my pension and they may split it and put in two returns instead of a joint return. UK tax allowances would only work if both you and your wife were getting the 10,000 quid, not just one of you. The government have said you will be able to transfer 1,000 over to your spouse which might make a difference.

Of course, next year, I will also have to declare my Army pension which I am sure will also make a difference as, although they won't tax it, they will take it into account when working it out which will put me on the next tax bracket. Tax adviser tells me it is difficult to calculate but, working on the current exchange rate, I'll probably end up paying about 70 to 90 euro a month. UK already takes over £250 a month off me in tax.

Great to hear all your opinion on what I say in my intro, regarding the 50% exchange for sterling a guy down in the Boulavard told me that he gets 50% but wherever he goes he said that if he waits for 3 Days he will get €150 for £100.... As I said my Irish pension is €230 a Week that's good here but in Ireland it is peanuts with the cost of living so high. So here my wife and I can live a superb quality of life we don't drink or smoke so it is hard to spend €560 a Week......

Especially as 2 x 230 = 460.

I hope it's your wife that does the household accounts.

Well, many a time it's been said to me "Thats the luck of the Irish" you meet a man who is getting 1.50€ to the £...If he waits 3 days,  I wait 3 days and it goes down...your pension is €230 a week, either double that which is €460, fair bit short of €560, or your wife gets €330 a week more then you.

As I say "Definitely the luck of the Irish" . 

Johnzx- Are you saying that your state pension is £ 14,700 a year?

Wow, that's some pension!

Sorry I made a mistake our income is €460 a Week €230 each not bad, as I say in Ireland you survive but here you live a really good life  We don't drink or smoke, so happy here in Spain

How can you have a happy life with out a drink

Paddy wanted to be an accountant, so he went for an aptitude test: 

Tester: If I give you two Rabbits, and two rabbits, and another two rabbits, how many rabbits have you got? 

Paddy: SEVEN! 

Tester: No, listen carefully again. If I give you two Rabbits, and two rabbits, and another two rabbits, how many rabbits have you got? 

Paddy: SEVEN! 

Tester: Let's try this another way. If I give you two bottles of beer, and two bottles of beer, and another two bottles of beer, how many bottles of beer have you got? 

Paddy: SIX. 

Tester: Good! Now, if I give you two Rabbits, and two rabbits, and another two rabbits, how many rabbits have you got? 

Paddy: SEVEN! 

Tester: How on Earth do you work out that three lots of two rabbits is seven? 

Paddy: I've already got one rabbit at home!

No problem drink  causes more problems in  all walks of life, We prefer a nice car instead, with drink all you have is green shoes and a rusty zip..........

Remember to steer clear of those horrible Spaniards partaking in the odd tipple, but you don't run into many of them do you? 

Something came to mind that I thought I would share with you.

My late grandfather had a saying that went something like this, 'don't trust anyone who never takes a drink and talks about god a lot'.  

Hep

I guess your grandfather was not Irish then !!!

(I have dual Irish and UK nationality)

My great grandmother, who was my grandfather's mother in law, was born in Dublin Barracks in the 1870's, she was an alcoholic, fortunately it's not contagious.