Pensions come in many shapes and sizes. Whether it’s an employment based pension or social pensions, you will see many variations. Understanding and qualifying for your specific pension program as a domestic citizen can be difficult enough. Adding in foreign circumstances further complicates your status. There are a few things you want to keep in mind when it comes to your pension as an expatriate. Beacon Financial Education gives you a summary of what to take into account.
Do: Read up on Totalization Agreements
As an expat, the following situation may sound familiar: You’ve split time working in multiple countries. Each country has a minimum requirement of quarters worked in order to qualify for social security (in the U.S., it’s 40 quarters). Perhaps you’ve put 30 quarters, for example, in the U.S. and 10 quarters in another country. In this situation, you might not qualify for social security in either country, even though you’ve contributed 40 quarters in total! Enter totalization agreements.
