Expat Financial Advice a Must When Returning to UK

On one level or another we have all been affected by this virus. Some financially, some emotionally or physically. Thousands have lost their job or are on partial income, many are bound to stay home, have not seen loved ones in months; others have even lost family members or friends. 

Whatever your personal circumstances, we all have been affected mentally. 

Despite our best efforts to make use of this time to finally do everything we wanted to do, clear out the cellar, take care of the tax return, sort out those pensions, work out more or finally learn to cook, for many this has not happened. Why? 

HSBC and The Local Government Pension Scheme are the latest Defined Benefit Pension Schemes to cause upset and worry to thousands of soon-to-be retirees.

Firstly, HSBC has come under fire for cutting the pension payouts of its former staff by up to £2,500 a year, affecting 50,000 members who joined the company between 1975 and 1996. This group had opted to pay less national insurance (NI) contributions whilst working by “contracting out” of the former state pension scheme. This meant that HSBC also paid less NI contributions. In exchange for paying a lower rate, the bank agreed to pay staff a guaranteed minimum pension when they came to retire. Payment records were however not properly maintained leading pensioners to be either overpaid or underpaid. Numerous firms, including HSBC, had used this arrangement and when the errors were discovered, some began to cut pension payouts to compensate for the overpayment.