State pension paid abroad — any delays or surprises?

Emma, the proof-of-life letter caught us too, for the same reason. What fixed it was updating our address with the pension service directly, not only with the bank, and asking a local official here to sign the form, which they do all the time for foreign pensioners. Now I put the expected month in the calendar and phone if it hasn't arrived.

We're about to go through this with Swedish pensions, and this is exactly the kind of thing I'd have missed. Our plan now, thanks to this thread: update the address with every pension provider before we leave, not after, keep the pensions paid to our Swedish account for the first year so nothing changes during the move, and only switch to a Spanish account once we're settled and can deal with a delay calmly. Emma, did the missing payment eventually arrive?

It did, after six weeks and three phone calls, and Linda's plan is exactly what I'd do if I started again.

Proof-of-life letters going to the old address is a classic, and it happened to a friend of ours as well.

Useful thread for anyone retiring abroad. Pension services in most countries require periodic proof of life for people living overseas, and the timing, the accepted forms and who can sign them vary by country. Changing the payment account is often slower than people expect, so a buffer in the old account is sensible. The Retirement section for Spain covers receiving foreign pensions and links to the official services.

My parents' pension in India needs a similar annual certificate, and it's always the address that causes trouble.

Ukraine sends my parents the same letters, from the other direction.

Exactly this problem hit my father's pension when he stayed with us for three months.

Saving this thread for my own parents, who are thinking about joining us one day.

A buffer in the old account is the kind of boring advice that saves people real stress.