Financial advice, can anyone advise where we go for help?

[Guest dellawarren99@hotmail.com]

We are moving out in the next few weeks. We need financial advice re should we sell our house or not in Uk, what should we do with our endowments, what about Uk and Oz Tax etc? Does anyone know of a reputable company we could use and how much we should pay for a consultation? We are hitting brick walls at present and do not have long before we leave UK. Thanks.

[Guest the ps]

Hi

Just Bumping this back up as I would be interested in knowing where to get oz financial advice too !:spinny:

Best Wishes

Brenda

[Guest Team 'W']

Sorry can't help, thought I'd get you an elevator back to the top!

[Guest Liam]

Hi

 

sounds like you need to look at your situation carefully and address each of the subjects seperately:

 

House:

 

Questions to ask yourself:

 

1. What is the local market like at the moment and is it the right time to sell (ask 3 local estate agents).

2. How long is it taking to sell properties at the moment.

3. Do I need the funds before I move to Australia or are we going to rent for a while to see if we really like a suburb before committing to buying.

4. What are house prices doing in the state in OZ we want to move to. (email 3 local estate agents in the suburbs you are looking at ..get their details from Real Estate for Sale, Rent and Share @ Domain.com.au).

 

Questions to ask experts:

5. Do I really want to move money to Australia when it is at such a bad exchange and what are the strategies for minimising the risk.

6. What are the tax implications of selling while still in UK or after we move to OZ.

7. What are the tax implications of selling and holding cash in UK until exchange rates improve in 6-12 months time. (no guarantee but likely).

8 Would I be better to Drip Feed funds across over 12 months rather than risk a one off transfer.

 

Endowments:

 

Questions:

1. Have you asked for a a payout figure and details of any penalties.

2. Do you have a contact name, email and phone number at the claims department manager or supervisor of your provider who you can contact if you want individual help from either the UK or Australia

 

Pensions:

 

Questions: Ask the same as for endowments plus the following:

 

 

1. Details of pensionable service.
    
   
2. Contribution History, detailed by employer, employee.
   
    
   
3. Pension Fund Value if Fund remains with current trustees.
   
    
   
4. Transfer Value, i.e. the net value if the Fund were to be transferred.
   
    
   
5. Confirmation that no part of the pension has come into payment.
   
6. The amount of the Fund that relates to the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) or Protected Rights.

Once you have thought about the above and written down your own thoughts and got answers from your sources, then you need to see a Financial Adviser. If you can provide the above details then you will be in a much stronger position and will save yourself a lot of money paying an adviser to do that basic groundwork.

 

A decent adviser will cover everything from what is mentioned above to getting replacement life insurances in Oz, Superannutaion (Oz Pensions) accounts, Wills and Estate Planning, offer a mortgage service.

 

How much to pay? Well if you do some of the leg work then you should look to pay no more than AUD$2500-$3000 for a full Statement of Advice covering all the above areas.

 

Please remember it is just as important to set yourself up right in Australia as it is to close your affairs in the UK. Can be very scary for a family if something goes wrong in Australia in the first few years and you have put off arranging your insurances, wills, debt management.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Liam