Neil B

Thanks heaps Andy, that is very helpful. The call centre at AustralianSuper did anything but inspire confidence in this matter and I get the feeling whoever replied to my email failed to consider having mentioned the 5/10 year expiry. Given your comments it seems highly likely I'll have no trouble when the time comes to rollover from AESF. I've asked Aviva UK the question regarding transferring crystallised to QROPS, being certain to word the question absolutely unambiguously this time. The first reply basically said no comment, ask the recipient! They do have internal financial advisors if necessary. Thanks again.

Aus power plugs are readily available from Bunnings and easy to fit. As for functionality here's a removalists take on broadcast TV ... https://blog.pssremovals.com/using-uk-electricals-in-australia#:~:text=Will UK TV sets work,of channels%2C sound or both. To be frank broadcast channels (free to air) in Australia are famously terrible. Compared to UK there's fewer to chose from and there's more adverts than content so you wouldn't be missing much even if that functionality never worked again. There's even adverts informing users there is such a thing as free to air. Streamed services (Netflix et al) dominate and should still work regardless but might need the app reinstalled from the Australia app store. It's not dissimilar to mobile phone apps which also may need to be reinstalled before updates will work. As the article says, even if apps don't work there's always set-top style boxes for combined streaming services. They generally require nothing more than a HDMI port on the TV to plug into. It can get a little more complicated if you wish to continue watching UK streaming (eg iPlayer) but that's the case regardless wherever the TV was purchased.

I used Crown Relocations back in 2007. Wholly independently owned including all assets and delivered end to end, no contractors. Not the cheapest but did an excellent job. The packers were amazing, everything arrived and stored in Aus while I went on holiday in Asia for 6 months. They even accepted a postcard delivery and forwarded that on once I had an Aus address One of my employers in Aus also used them regularly for interstate moves, changed to another removalist and regretted it. Could be worthwhile contacting them. https://www.crownrelo.com/uk/en-gb

I didn't finish the visitor oriented website I built for fun last year but it might offer some insight to Perth life, not least the weather and travel calendar pages. https://pocketlocal.au/ Enjoy

You're welcome. Fresh from the UK I travelled around the country from Adelaide over a couple of years. Arrived in Perth the first time on Xmas morning redeye, drove directly from the airport to the beach and before even getting that far already decided it's where I wanted to live. Fate did indeed assist me and haven't regretted that choice for a minute. Whatever you read about Perth bear in mind some of its biggest critics live here. For the life of me I don't know why unless it's simply trying in some misguided way to protect the laid back lifestyle. Or perhaps it's just not appreciating what's on their own doorstep. You'd be suprised how many locals haven't travelled beyond Bali, true story. I lost count how many people commented relocating from Adelaide was "a big move". Right 'oh! From the northern suburbs you mentioned I'm guessing the big city life isn't your thing. If any city life isn't your thing either there's every chance you'll love it here. Although similar in scale to Adelaide the vast wealth in WA makes Perth feel much less country town than Adelaide but after Melbourne it might feel kinda sleepy until you figure out what works for you. Ignore the "there's nothing to do" chants. There's always something happening you just got to know where to look and put the legwork in keeping track. Much of the attraction is based around localised events and outdoor & family oriented activities, but no rat race.

Thanks for the advice @Steve Elliott. I've learned enough to appreciate that not making the most cost effective choices can very quickly become very expensive. My circumstances are extremely straight forward but without knowing the exit options from AESF it feels rather like throwing money into a black hole. I simply wish to know what options may be available to access that money again in future, not advice regarding which option may be the most beneficial for my circumstances. As @Marisawright mentioned AESF publicised documentation talks a lot about income stream. I've found no mention of do or don't permit other common withdrawal/exit .... flexi-access, lump sum, rollover. Given the UK-AU DTA makes moving retirement funds extremely fraught the least AESF could and should do is make it much easier to understand what to expect from then on before commiting to their service. Of course there's no one size fits all strategy but at least publicising the potential options should surely be a regulatory requirement, not forcing everyone to engage a 3rd party advisor for the most basic of information. Believe it or not I have offered to pay advisors and been turned down. "Frustrating" is an understatement. Hopefully Andrew at Vista can help. Thanks again.

I've no experience of living anywhere except Perth and Adelaide so can't add anything useful there. However there's a couple of websites you might find useful when researching suburbs. They're only a guide and I've no desire to kick start an arguement from anyone offended by statistics. This one is excellent for comparing crime rates suburb-suburb. Just bear in mind the numbers aren't per capita, only totals no matter the size of suburb. https://www.police.wa.gov.au/crime/crimestatistics#/ Scroll to 1.Location, select 'Suburb', I suggest using Maylands as a baseline (5km from CBD, highly varied socioeconomic) Scroll to 3.Time Period, select 'Compare Suburbs', below the graph you can now add another 2 suburbs to see how they compare. Rockingham population is roughly triple that of Maylands for reference. This one will give you an idea where there's clusters of public housing that some people may prefer to avoid. The zoomed out view is misleading. Zoom in to see locallised density. https://www.microburbs.com.au/heat-map/embed/public-housing#115.86462443991431:-31.931317615385947:12 As a very general rule the 'golden triangle' (CBD-Mosman Park-Floreat-CBD) is highly desirable for those who can afford. 20+ suburbs including the 9 most expensive. Just north of Floreat is Wembley Downs which sits between the beach and lakes, has highly reputable schooling and good transport links to CBD. Very family friendly. The suburbs OP mentioned further north certainly sit at the more affordable end being a longer commute. The regional city close to those is Joondalup which commercially has pretty much everything you're likely to need.

@Marisawright , @Nemesis Thanks for the great tip and detail, good to know.

Thanks @Marisawright. My best guess is AustralianSuper wish to avoid any risk of unauthorised payment among countless possible scenarios with UK sourced money hence take the much simpler route of not accepting any rollover regardless. I could be wrong As you say maybe all Super take the same approach, maybe it's only flexi-access ones, or maybe they have to. Sadly I'm not likely to be in a position to retire until 65+ and my long term expectations are not conducive with an income stream either, hence wishing to know AESF exit options and consolidation in flexi-access at the earliest opportunity.

I'm quite knowledgale about the limited options for transferring a UK DC pension to Aus, and with only a small pot my options are even more limited. Determined to get out of UK, UFPLS is not an option due to >50% being AFE ~£50k, too small balance to consider SMSF, leaving AESF as the only reasonable option. However, before commiting to AESF I approached them regarding access to those funds in later years and they refuse to provide any information regarding exit options. Currently about to turn 55 (hence starting the journey) and what I'd like to be able to do is consolidate AESF with existing Super once 60 years, and the 5/10 year UK tax liability has expired. AESF instructed to approach a financial advisor for info exiting their fund (!!!). Now, I've found myself relying on generosity for advice since to date I've been unable to pay anyone for advice due to AU regulatory restrictions and insufficient financial interest. My question is, are there viable options to rollover from AESF to Super after 5 years of the original transfer? AustralianSuper would ideally be the receiving fund but have advised that is not possible for "any funds originating from the UK" regardless of how many years have passed. If necessary, a rollover out of AustralianSuper to another Super in order to consolidate I'll have to consider that too. While here I have another AESF question: Does the UK pension aleady being crystallised (due to PCLS, yes I know I'll pay AU-MTR on it all as frontloaded AFE, I have my reasons) affect the AESF transfer option? Aviva UK were unable to advise their position on this also I get that exiting any fund is not in their interests but being delibarately obstructive makes we more determined to leave, and ever more wary of handing money to AESF for the same reason despite being the only realistic option. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.