Pensions-Best way to be paid in OZ?

[Mike and Connie]

Hi everyone,
This question has probably been asked and answered before but I can't find it either on this site or BritExpats
My wife and I are both retired and both receive State pensions and a private pension each.
I know we can get them paid into an OZ bank account but what is the best way to avoid all the bank charges? I'm assuming that both our pension providers and Dept of Works and Pension won't transfer our pensions to OZ without charging us something.
Any info would be appreciated. We have recently been allocated a CO so hope to make the move by mid-summer.

Cheers
Mike and Connie

[Gollywobbler]

Hi M&C

I reckon the easiest way is to keep at least one UK Bank account open and have the money paid into that. If possible, I'd be inclined to think about trying to wait till there is a tidy amount in the UK account and then transferring it to Oz via HIFX or one of the other Forex companies, because that is a cheaper way of moving money to Oz than by ordinary Bank transfer.

Also, if you are confident about playing the exchange rate, using Forex gives you an option to forward-buy the dollars at a moment which is favourable for you. I saw on xe.com the other day that the spot rate was $2,48 to the £1. However, an election is looming in Oz and if there is any uncertainty about the outcome of that, I think the dollar might weaken some more. But this is a GUESS! I am not George Soros, so please don't imagine that I actually know anything about how to play the currency market, because I don't!!!

Grayling or Jimclevs on BE might be your best sources of help, I reckon.

Cheers

Gill

[BullcreekBob]

G'day

Gillian gets a penson from the NHS, it is just paid into our Nationwide account in the UK and we withdraw from it at an ATM or pay UK bills via internet banking. The exchange rates when withdrawing from an ATM seem very good and there are no fees.

Cheers
Bob in Bull Creek
Mortgage Broker

[SAVTA]

Hubby and I both get our private and government pensions paid into UK bank accounts.

Bob - we do the same as you and draw funds from the ATM!!!

[jawthe1]

Hi there

Our kids are moving to Australia so it looks like we will be encouraged to emigrate there also. I know about loosing the index linking on the state pensions but had not considered we would lose in transfer fees. The UK government website (www.direct.gov.uk) however states:

"Your State Pension can be paid into a UK bank account, or into an account in the country in which you live. If you decide to have your State Pension paid into your bank abroad, it'll be paid in the local currency, converted at the exchange rate on the day it's paid. You can also receive your State Pension as a sterling cheque, which you can choose to receive either every four or every 13 weeks."

This would suggest to me that it will not cost anything, am I right or am I kidding myself?

I have been advised by an IFA not to keep any money in UK accounts after emigrating as this will expose my estate in Australia to UK Inheritance Tax, assuming there is anything left.

Cheers

John

[jawthe1]

Hi there

Our kids are moving to Australia so it looks like we will be encouraged to emigrate there also. I know about loosing the index linking on the state pension but had not considered we would lose more in transfer fees. The UK government website (www.direct.gov.uk) however states:

"Your State Pension can be paid into a UK bank account, or into an account in the country in which you live. If you decide to have your State Pension paid into your bank abroad, it'll be paid in the local currency, converted at the exchange rate on the day it's paid. You can also receive your State Pension as a sterling cheque, which you can choose to receive either every four or every 13 weeks."

This would suggest to me that it will not cost anything to receive our pensions, am I right or am I kidding myself?

Also, I have been advised by an IFA not to keep any money in UK accounts after emigrating as this will expose my estate in Australia to UK Inheritance Tax, assuming there is anything left.

Cheers

John

[Mike and Connie]

John,
Thanks for that bit of info. I have been concerned about the possible costs of having the pensions paid direct to our aussie bank accounts but that does seem to be fair as long as the exchange rate they use is the "commercial" one rather than, say, the tourist rate.
I have been in touch with HIFX who offer a regular payment scheme for pensions etc and they say they don't charge transfer fees and of course you get the very good rate of exchange,also they can freeze the rate of exchange for up to 2 years,so at least you know where you are for that 2 years as far as your pension is concerned..
I haven't finalised anything yet as far as pension or capital transfer goes,but once we have our visa(hopefully in 2-3 months) I will look into this further and maybe post something on here.
Cheers
Mike