Looking at the numerous posts , it is clear this issue is rightly quite important in the overall migration planning . Knowledgeable people have correctly opined that the transfer should not be done in haste ( for fear of falling foul of the ' six - month' rule ) and professional advice should be sought . However , even after taking professional advice , the decision to transfer or not should be made very carefully .

The NHS pension is a defined benefits pension and in general a decision to transfer an NHS pension should be dependent on :

1. Whether the CETV offered is a fair one and whether the recipient feels comfortable with the offer . The CETV is arrived at after a complicated actuarial calculation and and partly reflects how well the pension fund is funded at the time and the general economic condition . Thus a CETV obtained at a later date might be substantially different from the original figure ( might be higher if the original figure was deemed to be low ).

2. The 'critical yield' - this is probably the most crucial thing to consider and all professional advice should give this . This computes and expresses ( as a percentage ) what the Aus destination fund should perform at to match the NHS payout . This figure ( critical yield ) is calculated after taking into consideration the different tax benefits of moving the fund to Aus .

This should then be considered along with the different fees of any super fund and the tax on subsequent growth and an estimated gross performance that the Aus fund has to consistently perform at could be arrived at .

If you think that the Aus fund could consistently outperform the gross critical yield then the NHS pension could be transferred . As Alan Collet had mentioned , an SMSF might be an option where the choice of investment is an individual one , but these have significant costs .

It is mainly for these two reasons : a) the option of challenging the CETV and b) obtaining an accurate 'critical yield' that professional advice is required and advisors with actuarial knowledge are preferable .

The six month rule does not apply to temporary residents on 457 . Currently , the performance of most super funds leave a lot to be desired .