All my working life I have split my time between driving and the Merchant Navy. When, in the mid 80s I grew tired of battering between Milford Haven and the Persian Gulf with cargos of Crude Oil I decided that the place I wanted to live was Spain. I’d first been to Mallorca in 1970 when I was 3rd mate on a Cable Ship and we laid a telephone cable between Mallorca and Barcelona and I was greatly taken with the place. I got me a job in a shipyard and moved there, learned Spanish and co-validated my qualifications so that I could work on Spanish ships and spent the next 27 years there till I suffered a heart attack, working in Italy at the time, and made the really stupid, and wrong, decision that medical care would be better back in the UK.
The Spanish Social Security system was already well established although as you say the Tax system was pretty casual in those days (one of the attractions). They were really strict about you paying your pension contributions, either as a deduction from your wages if you were employed or direct if you were self-employed as I was most of the time. The Self-Employed paid only pension and medical whilst the employed also paid a fund to cover you if you became unemployed. The big difference was that if you took the money when unemployed you could draw what you and your employer had paid in but when it was gone there was no more, no benefits or handouts, which made people pretty careful what they did with it The self-employed got nothing. That has changed now, of course, that they are proud members of the EU. In order to be able to draw a full pension you had to have contributed for 25 years. My contribution record with the UK was not too good as I had been working on foreign ships and abroad as a driver.
When the heart attack forced me to retire the UK were very unimpressed by my contribution record and finally, reluctantly, awarded me half a full pension. The Spanish agreed that I had more than the 25 years needed to qualify for a full pension but decided that 27 years was still not a full working lifetime and so would only give me 50% of the pension. They can do things like that and there is very little that you can do about it. Thanks to General Franco burocracy is still very strong in Spain. The pension is fixed and is the same for everybody and if you want more you have to sort it for yourself.
So I get a little more than a full English though if the pound suddenly became strong (doubt it) that might no longer be true. Thank God for some savings
David ,
What can i say,but thank you so much,as you must of realized i was a "deck boy"eventually A.B. or did you not read my "driving history"about 2 pages back now on this site ? FROM SCHOOL TO RETIREMENT .anyway ,wow ,what a work history,have you thought about writing it all down you would be surprised how many drivers ,ex drivers , like to read about others experiences.
I have this sort of thing ,what it is i do not know but can recognize the “unusual” pattern in others lives and "like " how did that come about, ie your pension,why would a englishman live in Spain for a start etc.
AS it could have been me as i was like a wandering nomad,but all ways fully employed.AS my Dad said your bed you lie in, it and i did, still married 52 years, my theory is that “sea time”, you get all the "i wished i done that"women ,drink,and all the other unpublished activities out of the system .so all the best. thanks again.dbp.
I would like to apologize for using this post,on non referendum material.
.MY VIEW is the quicker we are out the better, get the leeches off our backs .i bet not one driver or ex driver can say “well yes the EEC done good for us drivers” …only improve the rest of the european countries roads from goat tracks to roads.pdb.
The object of the EU was to drag every participating member down to the lowest common denominator and I have no wish to sink to the level of a Greek Goat Herder( or to eventually inflict this on my two Granddaughters either) or to sink to the level of his annual income ! So ■■■■ 'em I want out of the EU PDQ ! Merkel grew up in the Communist East Germany so she will not notice the difference between affluence and poverty so ■■■■ her as well.! And as for all this bollox about the EU charging tariffs on the goods we supply the EU well we will just charge the EU correspondingly so, it will be them that will be on the end of a bad deal ! because they ( the EU) sell us more than we sell them ! so bring it on ! Cheers Bewick.
Morning all.
A few thing have been pointed out by “the boss” that need to be factored in to the Pension discussion.
Scotland, for instance, has a few benifits that do not all apply to all the UK.
ie: no presciption charges, no home care charges for the elderly, no Doctor charges and only a small contribution to the dentist, free bus passes, etc
I therefore wonder if countries, like Spain have a higher Pension to allow for this,■■
A lot more than a Glib poster is required to level this playing field, I am sure.
Please dont shout at me now I’m living in Scotland, I am sure the " wee ■■■■■ from the north " will put thing right soon, Harvey
PS when Ted Heath took us into the common market, what happened to the cheap 7/6d bottles of wine we bought in France that attracted us to the idia ■■?
Well folks, have we been sold down the river. ■■? No more vast sums of money to the EU does not sound like, No more money to the EU etc etc, what do you think ■■? Harvey
Well we knew all along what clothing the woman was wearing and now we’ve had it confirmed. This will be a complete sell out, just as IT intended. Its place belongs on Tyburn Hill.
I forsee moves by the Remoaners who are after all the ones who control the ■■■■■ strings and run industry and who are still smarting from the fact that they only got their own personal vote, to attempt to engineer a financial collapse so that they can get their will. I expect them to make a concerted aim at future pension values as project fear goes into overdrive.
HRS:
Well folks, have we been sold down the river. ■■? No more vast sums of money to the EU does not sound like, No more money to the EU etc etc, what do you think ■■? Harvey
Sorry Harvey but, you have, and do I need to say, we told you so? Repeatedly. But not only were our views disregarded but we were branded as traitors merely for daring to have different ones.
I’m not gloating though, my pension is going to go even further down the tubes as a result.
Sorry Harvey but, you have, and do I need to say, we told you so? Repeatedly. But not only were our views disregarded but we were branded as traitors merely for daring to have different ones.
I’m not gloating though, my pension is going to go even further down the tubes as a result.
[/quote]
Hi Mate, well it has not been accepted by the EU yet so there is hope eh!! I dont think your views were disregarded, just the fact that you lost and would not accept that and we all needed to just get on with the “will of the people”. no offence mate.
“Polishing a turd” never has a true er word been spoken. Harvey
HRS:
Hi Mate, well it has not been accepted by the EU yet so there is hope eh!! I dont think your views were disregarded, just the fact that you lost and would not accept that and we all needed to just get on with the “will of the people”. no offence mate.
“Polishing a turd” never has a true er word been spoken. Harvey
Where on earth did you get the impression that I did not accept the loss of the ref? How could I not, the votes were counted so that’s that. Although that arrogant moron Cameron did pick and choose who he was going to allow to vote.
Don’t confuse not accepting with not liking.
But you’re right about the EU, unlike me it doesn’t have to accept, the terms anyway, and probably won’t.
But what about your Brexiteers who led you all up the garden path? Johnson, Gove and Fox. No guts, no principles, why haven’t they resigned? At least I see that DD has enough to forgo his cabinet pay cheque this morning.
Well at least David Davis has got a pair of Balls as I was beginning to wonder if any of them had any and now Ba ba ba Boris has resigned as well, they want Brexit to mean Brexit and no airy fairy wishy washey Mrs Mays ideas on the subject and you can pay for your own taxi from chequers if you don’t agree with me, they went away and thought about it and then decided not to be lambs to the slaughter on a whim from Mrs M, this is going to be a total car crash now when we ought to be giving them xankers the two fingers and just walk away and as usual they are in Brussels laughing there heads off. Will she go or will she stay I would’nt like to bet on it now for gods sake lets just get on with it as even the remoaners are fed up with this charade, heres hoping Buzzer and I voted OUT.
Buzzer:
Well at least David Davis has got a pair of Balls as I was beginning to wonder if any of them had any and now Ba ba ba Boris has resigned as well, they want Brexit to mean Brexit and no airy fairy wishy washey Mrs Mays ideas on the subject and you can pay for your own taxi from chequers if you don’t agree with me, they went away and thought about it and then decided not to be lambs to the slaughter on a whim from Mrs M, this is going to be a total car crash now when we ought to be giving them xankers the two fingers and just walk away and as usual they are in Brussels laughing there heads off. Will she go or will she stay I would’nt like to bet on it now for gods sake lets just get on with it as even the remoaners are fed up with this charade, heres hoping Buzzer and I voted OUT.
