cathntone
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I too transferred my small UK private pension pot to Australian Super and my experience was similarly woeful. After reading the posts above I now know I should also check the transfer rate when it finally came over. It took so long to arrive that in the process I fell foul of the work test rule. I have contacted the tax office here in vain in an effort to find out what evidence they require from me to satisfy this ruling. Other than finding formal paid work (nigh on impossible) the only info I've uncovered is rather woolly, implying that one can baby sit etc but not voluntary work. I childmind my baby grandson regularly and certainly sufficient hours to cover the rule but I'm currently not paid for this work. I can quite easily formalise this arrangement and be paid but how to go about this. Time is of the essence of course, I don't really want to obtain an ABN if I don't have to. Does anyone have experience of this issue?
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We used PSS when we came here in 2010 and I couldn't fault them. The packers were amazing and everything arrived in pristine condition. I would recommend doing a search on-line for insurance though, you can find it cheaper.
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Funnily enough it's quite civilised in Broome, they even have Coles AND Woolworths! Seriously though, two years in Broome wouldn't be a hardship for many people including our daughter who would go back in a trice.
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A quick question, has anyone here carried out their own private pension transfer? I have a small (under £10,000) private pension held with Scottish Widows. Always supposing I could find someone to bring it over for me the costs involved would swallow a large portion of an already meagre sum. Unfortunately it doesn't qualify as a trivial pension. Many thanks, Cath
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Well far from causing a minor irritation, having our pension index linked for the 7 weeks we are in the UK proved to be ridiculously easy. The proof will be in the increased payment of course. A phone call to the overseas pension office and it's done. If anyone would like the telephone number please message me. However it's fairly easy to find on the pension website. Now to see how blighty looks 2.5 years on!
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Thank you for that, I will take a look and see how we get on. I just think that if it causes just a tiny bit of irritation it will be worth it. I didn't mean to open a can of worms and cause harsh words here but it seems to me that there's little point in comparing one country's pension arrangements with another and judging the unfairness of it. It's the UK's double standard which is hard to take, it should really be all expats are frozen or none. I understand that there is supposed to be some historical reasoning why this has occurred but the result is grossly unfair. It's fair to say we knew all of this when we came here but things looked a whole lot more rosy when we were receiving a dollar more for each pound than we are now lol!
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In 3 weeks time we are heading back to the UK for a 7 week stay, the first visit since we arrived her 2.5 years ago. I'm pretty sure that we can receive the enhanced state pension for the time we are on UK soil and I wonder whether anyone has done this. I realise that the amount we receive will be hardly worth the effort but it's the *****ation factor that I 'm interested in. Cath
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I've ploughed through this post and nearly choked when I read that the OP will be earning $130,000 per annum and is worried about supermarkets. Then along you came and took the words very nicely out of my mouth as we too are here on a CPV and it is a struggle. Every month being at the mercy of the exchange rate is very wearing particularly as, like you, the rate was nearer 2.5 when we planned this move. After years in our own home we are now forced to rent with absolutely no hope of buying here. Start up costs took so much of our savings that going back to UK isn't an option either. However, before you all get out the hankies, we love it here. We too had a grand family plan and 3 out of our 4 children are here and hopefully the last one will make it eventually.
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Hi Moira, I don't know who told you that your mattresses etc are likely to get mouldy en-route. They should be just fine, your removers should check that the container is in good condition by shutting themselves inside to check that there are no holes. It's where the container is not waterproof that people have come unstuck. We brought more or less everything with us and have no regrets about that. The cost of transporting it is certainly cheaper than buying it all again here. Having said that, furniture is not as expensive as we had assumed particularly at sale time. Try looking at Harvey Norman, Super A Mart etc to get an idea of prices but also take into account that the advertised price is rarely what you would pay, you'd be amazed what you can get knocked off by just asking. Also there are deals to be had on insurance, you should be able to get a better rate than that quoted by your removal company. Good luck with your move.
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Hello I can answer a couple of these for you, #3, this is a no go I'm afraid, the Australian Government closed this particular loophole a couple of years ago. #4, we are in WA and we were able to apply for a Seniors Card (not to be confused with the Commonwealth Seniors Card) immediately. Using this allows us to use public transport free of charge outside of peak hours and can also be used in a variety of places to get money off. The Commonwealth Seniors Card can only be applied for when you have been resident for 2 years and this is the card that can get cheaper prescriptions. If you need a lot of prescriptions there is a 'cap', I can't think of the correct wording, which drops the cost of prescriptions when you reach it. I think it's about $1200 but I'm sure there is someone out there who will have the exact figures to hand. No, this does not come of your AoS.
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Just ask your CO if you can have an extension. I don't think it will wash if you say you are waiting for the rates to go up but tied in money might do the trick.
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I will second this. We sent our daughter all the money required including the final vac and she arranged to pay everything as it was requested. As to the interest, I had a conversation with her at the weekend about interest as I hadn't heard anything and the AoS was paid in April 09. I finally got a message mid week to say that she had tracked it down but had spent it! She is getting married so it's just about forgiveable but hopefully we will get it eventually.
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You're quite right Phoebe, we are the generation that have had to make do and mend in the past. I did some ghastly jobs when the children were little to fit around the hours I had to spare. My husband, at the grand old age of nearly 69, works for a children's charity, fetching babies and children from their foster carers to meet their family at a contact centre. He loves it and the kids love him - he rattles on about this baby and that toddler and all the things they chat about. I wonder whether anything similar happens in Perth. I'm hopeful we will find something however, I can't imagine not working at all.
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I have to agree that it would be good to have pensions thread for us oldies. We will be retired by the time we go though we are already drawing various pensions anyway. I have no idea how we should go about having our pensions paid to us in Oz or ensuring that they are paid gross. Aside from the fact that our UK state pensions are frozen the moment we leave these shores I know nothing about the rest. We will have to do something about getting further information soon but at the moment it's enough that we have to cope with selling the house and moving our goods and chattels.
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Hello to everyone who is feeling like us, thanks for your replies. It is the middle of the night that this emigration lark is at its scariest (then and when I open our garage door). Also thank you to Gill for the suggestion about the possible tax breaks available if one of our offspring decided to buy a house for us to rent. Of our 3 daughters in Perth, only one would be in a position to do this and I'm just not sure whether she would go for it. I think we will have to look at this possibility in more detail when we get there. Oh well, onwards and upwards.