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NHS Pension


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It will be preserved at the point you left work, and remain there, increasing in line with indexation until you claim it or decide to transfer it. The latter is possible to Aus super funds but a decision to be taken carefully, probably after financial advice.

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Can anyone give me any advice with regards to the NHS pension and how do we get it when we are in Australia, will it be carried over or does it freeze, or do we lose it ???

 

When you say NHS pension, do you mean you worked for the NHS and you've got a pension from them, or do you mean the UK State Pension?

 

Akiralx's reply refers to a pension from working for the NHS. Whether to transfer it to an Australian super fund is a thorny question - obviously you wouldn't want to do that unless you were cast-iron sure you're staying forever, and there are all kinds of tax implications too.

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My wife is just looking into this. She was with the NHS in the UK for nearly 20 years so has a fair bit in. There are a lot of financial institutions out there at the moment looking into getting a fee from you to get it over here. They try and make you think it won't cost you anything as they take it out of the pension they transfer. Don't be sucked in though, you can do it yourself and not pay them.

There are lots of things to take into account with tax implications. It will be classed as an income so you will be taxed. You might be able to roll it into your super fund here but it's not easy.

 

There are also implications with the exchange rate too.

 

I think my wife has decided to wait until she retires properly then she won't be taxed as much, if at all. She's taking a gamble on exchange rates but it's so hard to work out. If you need some extra cash now it might help though.

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My wife was a bit disappointed how much was in there to say it's supposed to have increased in-line with indexation. My NCB pension was much better and I only worked for them from an apprenticeship at 16 till I was in my late 20's. I got a lump sum from them when I was 55 and I get a decent amount per month. Even get increases every year.:cool: Must have had better funds managers than the NHS.

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If you are looking to transfer your pension as an NHS employee to a Super fund in Oz you only have about a week left to act as the government in the UK is blocking the transfer of non-funded government pensions at the end of this current tax year (5 April). The first step is to transfer the value into a SIPP in the UK as this can be transferred at a later date. You may already be too late as you have to apply for a valuation.

 

I should add that I have 30 years in a Civil Service pension (like an NHS pension) and I researched thoroughly last year and paid for advice with projections and concluded that on balance it was probably best to keep my Civil Service pension. My conclusion was at odds with the recommendation I received but the company I went to stand to earn even more if I used them to manage the transfer too so you have to read between the lines of any report you get.

 

Assuming that you end up retiring and living the rest of your life in Oz (massive assumption for any migrant) then you take a chance with exchange rates but I would be surprised if anyone really gained much overall by transferring out their index linked pension.

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My wife was a bit disappointed how much was in there to say it's supposed to have increased in-line with indexation. My NCB pension was much better and I only worked for them from an apprenticeship at 16 till I was in my late 20's. I got a lump sum from them when I was 55 and I get a decent amount per month. Even get increases every year.:cool: Must have had better funds managers than the NHS.

Isn't the NHS pension a final salary scheme?

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