It all sounds highly, complicated, getting your hands on your private or state pension ,

It shouldn't be - in fact it's not complicated at all if it's arranged properly in the first place. As I've said, it ain't rocket science. SPPA work this way, your pension is paid from your birth date to the end of that month, then add on the next month So, you could be paid in arrears from at least 30 days to at most 60 days. In the meantime, Citibank has free use of your money.

This is a very positive, interesting subject, Foxy, for the more mature FT. However, I am still confused as to why does Citybank get their grubby hands on your money? Why don't you just have the pensions people credit your bank in Blighty, and just withdraw your cash from any Chinese machine using your Blighty Bank debit card; from my experience you get a good exchange rate, and the charges are small ? It seems a right carry-on to me from what you have said, mysteriously your money gets changed into USA dollars for some reason?