Retirement + Working overseas

[Brander_Rly]

Hi guys, since many of you have worked in different countries, making this question to you seems appropriate:

 

If you work in a country for some years, you will retire some day. But is very common CG artists work, for example,  5 years at crytek frankfurt, 10 years at Pixar and 5 years at Valve 

 

So, there is a chance, any law, to sum the years you worked at different countries to gain the benefit of retirement? Or, if you move to another country the most reasonable option is to make a private retirement plan?

 

 

Thanks.

[Sentura]

Pretty sure that those money are yours regardless of where you are in the world

[Skjalg]

Hi guys, since many of you have worked in different countries, making this question to you seems appropriate:

 

If you work in a country for some years, you will retire some day. But is very common CG artists work, for example,  5 years at crytek frankfurt, 10 years at Pixar and 5 years at Valve 

 

So, there is a chance, any law, to sum the years you worked at different countries to gain the benefit of retirement? Or, if you move to another country the most reasonable option is to make a private retirement plan?

 

 

Thanks.

This depends entirely on your nationality. If I moved to Germany and started working there, I would still need to tax to Norway. But some countries forces you to (also) tax to them.

 

That being said, saving money is always a good idea, and saving money in a private retirement fund sounds like a good idea.

[Warby]

This is a topic that is on my mind a lot recently  i know the rules are very different from country to country.

 

In Germany in order to get any kind of retirement money you must have paid in for at least 5 years (and the amount is going to be tiny naturally) other countries are probably different.

 

If you worked in many countries most likely scenario is that you will get a small retirement amount from all of them rather than one large (or lets call it what it is "PATHETIC" ) amount from one country.

 

In some countries I know you can "cash out" when you leave and get all your retirement moneys back right away. I did that in Denmark. Because I didn't want to deal with the danish authorities who use a language i don't understand when i am an old fuck.

 

 

What I am way more worried about is that this shit will "reset" in many places do to revolutions policy changes new laws. I find it impossible to plan anything for my retirement beyond the obvious fact that people who OWN REAL-ESTATE ARE ALWAYS BETTER OF than those who don't.

 

Who knows if in 30-40 years money, medical supplies, food, drinkable water and breathable air are still the commodities/concepts we have today. I am gonna say NO its gonna be weird and different in unexpected/unpredictable ways.

[KoKo5oVaR]

Depends on your country mate, you could take a private retirement fund, or if you rely on your country retirement plan, see if there is a way to still pay for it by working overseas. Because "rebuying" the working years if you miss some, will probably cost you much more.

 

I know that for the year i worked in england (i'm from france), i didn't took the private pension plan of the company nor i paid anything in france since i was working in england and paying english taxes.

 

But after i knew there was a way to still pay the public pension plan we have in france by working overseas, but you have to subscribe to it. So just get informed mate.

 

Same with public medical care, after one year in england i didn't exist anymore in france and can't get my medication refund. So i have to get back into the system again; plan your return too actually.

 

It's the video game industry after all, i heard about some french people in canada who were laid off from one day to the other (because they can there) had 3 month to find a job, didn't found it, and then had to go back into their home country. If you have no family to get you back on your feet there, it's pretty much an acrobatic flight without a net. So think about that too.

 

For me it happened to be the family issues that were the most complicated ;p

[e-freak]

afaik the 401(k) in the US allows you to cash out when you leave the country if you work there for say 15 years but want to move back to europe.

 

its a weird topic and its been crossing my mind as well for quite some time. I mistrust mosts private pension plans as I've had some friends who got screwed over by this already in the past.

 

like warby said, real-estate might be the only somewhat reliable care plan, but then again it requires you too be long enough in one country to purchase a building or apartment there and plan ahead enough to pay down credit on it. you also need someone to take care of it (and potential tenants) while you're abroad or in a different city. Its definitely a huge burden (but still most likely the one that actually pays off, no matter the economic situation in your country at the time of your retirement).

[Sentura]

Also real estate is fairly vulnerable to bubbles (which happen every so and so years) as well as gentrification

[Pericolos0]

Pretty sure that those money are yours regardless of where you are in the world

 

yup

 

I'm maxing out my US 401k and roth IRA knowing that I can access these wherever I end up being. There's also ways to roll over retirement accounts from one country into another's, but this can get complicated. 

 

My plan is to just put as much money in investment accounts as possible and let it compound over the years. I hope to be able to retire early as well, because I don't want to work at mcdonalds in case I am too old for the games industry . I see goverment pensions as maybe a nice extra when I retire, but I don't want to bet on it.

 

I wouldn't consider owning real estate a retirement plan, unless you maybe are a landlord, and you make a lot of money from renting out property? Real estate is also prone to bubbles and many people owning real estate are actually house poor. Theres also significant upkeep cost and property taxes that come with real estate. I hope to own a house some day, but I don't see it as an investment, owning a house is a liability.

[FMPONE]

I don't think retirement will really exist in the future except for the very old. I think the vast majority will have to work more years than they do now.

[KoKo5oVaR]

It's funny, i looked over what i had

 

Basically in france it works by trimesters, and you need around 160 trimesters of work to get a full retirement pension. (which will probably rise in the future anyway)

 

So far after 4 years of tumultuous game dev, between internship, unemployement, temporary contracts, full time job, studio closing, work oversea and the like. I made 11 trimesters.

 

And if i continue on that rhythm : (160 /11) * 4 = 58 years

 

28 + 58, i should get my full retirement pension at 86 years of age! ...  mhhh hardly there

 

 

Nobody really know what will happen for game developers in the future actually, since even the oldest aren't retired yet.

 

I guess since it will be the future, i'll get me some fancy robotic arms or something to continue to translate and rotate crates with distinction and style. But until then, any ideas of reconversion guys ?

[Warby]

... i'll get me some fancy robotic arms or something to continue to translate and rotate crates with distinction and style.

 

THIS 

[Pericolos0]

Nobody really know what will happen for game developers in the future actually, since even the oldest aren't retired yet.

 

You're not going to be crunching with the young guys at age 65, I can tell you that

[PogoP]

 

Nobody really know what will happen for game developers in the future actually, since even the oldest aren't retired yet.

 

You're not going to be crunching with the young guys at age 65, I can tell you that

 

 

Oh right, are you 65?

[Pampers]

at 78 you are modeling a new wheelchair you can't afford, during lunchbreaks

[Steppenwolf]

You're eligible to retirement money from wherever you paid into the system. Just gotta make sure you archive all your paperwork so you don't have trouble to prove your claims 30-40 years down the line. I still get a letter from the Swedish retirement fund every year for example. I guess it will be a bit of a pain in the ass to sort out everything if you worked in a lot of different countries.

 

I also pay into a private fund btw. because i started relatively late to work regularely and have some catching up to do if i don't want to die in poverty.