northshorepom Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We are considering making a bit more sense of my wife's UK pension She has a smallish private pension pot which she started paying into about 20 years ago. We've continued just to pay into it even though she hasn't worked for 10 years (probably shouldn't have bothered, but it wasn't that much money and anyway, it's water under the bridge now) We are potentially winding up some of our UK financial interests in the next 6 months (things like life insurance, long-term savings funds, a few shares etc) as it is looking more likely we will be here for a longer period, or at least long enough to become PR/citizens This pension fund would seem to be one that is sensible to wind up. Currently we pay for it out of interest on other UK investments and they will diminish, so we'd rather stop paying out. However, we don't just want it to sit there as its value will be eroded by fees. We would prefer to bring it over here and either dump it in my super (I guess this isn't possible), or possibly start her own super fund here and dump it in there. Is that possible? Basically I am just interested in finding out what our options are - and what the tax implications are likely to be, either from HMRC or ATO Thanks in advance :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew from Vista Financial Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hi Sorry for delay, I will answer this hopefully tomorrow, very busy at moment!! Regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew from Vista Financial Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 We are considering making a bit more sense of my wife's UK pension She has a smallish private pension pot which she started paying into about 20 years ago. We've continued just to pay into it even though she hasn't worked for 10 years (probably shouldn't have bothered, but it wasn't that much money and anyway, it's water under the bridge now) We are potentially winding up some of our UK financial interests in the next 6 months (things like life insurance, long-term savings funds, a few shares etc) as it is looking more likely we will be here for a longer period, or at least long enough to become PR/citizens This pension fund would seem to be one that is sensible to wind up. Currently we pay for it out of interest on other UK investments and they will diminish, so we'd rather stop paying out. However, we don't just want it to sit there as its value will be eroded by fees. We would prefer to bring it over here and either dump it in my super (I guess this isn't possible), or possibly start her own super fund here and dump it in there. Is that possible? Basically I am just interested in finding out what our options are - and what the tax implications are likely to be, either from HMRC or ATO Thanks in advance :-) Hi NSP So the 3 options I see for consideration from the information given are: Leave in UK (especially if you may return); Transfer to a QROPS, non-Australia (if you do not think you will return to UK but may not retire in Oz); Transfer to a QROPS, Australia (If you think you will retire in Oz). Option 2 is not within the scope of my authorisation so I could not comment further on this strategy. Regarding option 3 then HMRC will allow transfers out without penalties so long as they meet certain obligations (which are generally pretty easy to adhere to). ATO allow transfers in generally at any time up until retirement, generally tax is due if transferred more than 6 months after arriving on the growth of the fund and other than contribution cap limits (which shouldn’t be an issue based on your smallish pot comment) there are not really any other ATO issues to worry about. You are right in that if transferred to an Australian Super Fund it would all have to be done in your Wife’s name. Regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 Thank you Andrew. Will have to do a bit more digging into the ATO issues and what it is actually worth My main aim is to avoid excessive fees. This isn't a major part of our retirement financial plans, it's just a pot that's hanging around. I just want to avoid erosion from management fees since the sum is so small Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbshepherd Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 On a related subject, I receive a pension from the USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme). Until recently I was here on a 410 (Temporary Retirement) visa which meant that it made more sense to have the pension paid to my UK bank account and transfer it to OZ as needed. I retired from work 10 years ago. I have now moved to a PR visa so the tax advantages of doing it that way have disappeared. What are the options for having the pension paid directly to my Australian account? USS have advised that I should use an organization operated by Citibank called the Worldlink Payment Services. Does anyone have any experience with these people? Regards JBS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew from Vista Financial Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Sorry JBS I have not got any experience with this company that I could share. Regards Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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