Transferring savings back to the UK

[Sloth]

After 13 happy years here in Tassie, over the weekend we decided we'd like to go back to the UK. I'm effectively retired, my wife has about 2 years to go to her super preservation age so that's our time frame.

We haven't really got very far with our planning yet, but one option is to cash in our super and our other investments, sell the house and just transfer the cash across and reinvest it once back in the UK.

We'd be using OFX to make the transfer, but what I'm slightly concerned about is the sudden appearance of what would be quite a large amount in our UK bank account-is it likely to arouse suspicion of money laundering or some other dubious activity?

Do I just need to notify the bank ahead of time what I intend to do?

 

 

 

[MARYROSE02]

So far as I know you won't have any legal problems transferring money from Australia to the UK, although there may be taxation issues.  I transfer relatively small sums on a regular basis from my UK bank account to my Australian bank account using Transferwise. I have to do tax returns in both countries and everything is (I hope) above board.

You could draw an income from your Australian super fund(s) and have it paid into your UK bank account rather than cash it all in and transfer it to the UK. I went back to the UK for 12 years and I have a UK employer's pension paid into my Australian bank account every month with no charges either. It never occurred to me to try and cash it in and transfer it to Australia although I could have taken a lump sum rather than maximum pension. The potential drawback is being subject to the vagaries of the exchange rate.

Are you 100 per cent committed to moving back to the UK? After 13 "happy years" you might be homesick for Tasmania so you could "hedge your bets" and keep the house here, rented out if you choose just in case you change your mind.

I am not recommending that course of action by the way, nor offering any kind of financial advice. In retrospect I should probably have sold my house in the UK before I returned to Australia although when I left the UK I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. The house in the UK has been rented out so I get an income. The estate agent manages it for me, arranges repairs, pays my income into my UK bank account, and takes 11 per cent I think of the gross rent. If I decide to sell, I need to move the personal effects I stored in the loft but I'm sure the estate agent will be able to arrange it all if I ask them.

[Marisawright]

26 minutes ago, Sloth said:

After 13 happy years here in Tassie, over the weekend we decided we'd like to go back to the UK. I'm effectively retired, my wife has about 2 years to go to her super preservation age so that's our time frame.

We haven't really got very far with our planning yet, but one option is to cash in our super and our other investments, sell the house and just transfer the cash across and reinvest it once back in the UK.

We'd be using OFX to make the transfer, but what I'm slightly concerned about is the sudden appearance of what would be quite a large amount in our UK bank account-is it likely to arouse suspicion of money laundering or some other dubious activity?

Do I just need to notify the bank ahead of time what I intend to do?

I would definitely advise notifying the bank ahead of time, just in case.

As I mentioned on the other forum - if you want to take lump sums out of your superannuation, be sure to withdraw the money well before you are due to leave, so that it's sitting in your Australian bank account before you leave Australia.    

Then you can transfer the money with OFX or Moneycorp or whoever you wish to use.

You may wish to enquire about topping up your UK govt pension, since you sound like you're still not old enough to apply for the Australian govt pension - and once you leave Australia, you won't be able to apply for it.

 

[Marisawright]

7 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

You could draw an income from your Australian super fund(s) and have it paid into your UK bank account rather than cash it all in and transfer it to the UK

The snag with drawing an income from your Australian super fund is British tax.  

In Australia, pension income is tax-free so that's not a problem. However the UK tax office is not so kind -  pensions are income and have to be declared as such. 

The other possible issue is that the pension will be subject to the vagaries of the exchange rate.

Edited August 5, 2019 by Marisawright

[Sloth]

3 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

You may wish to enquire about topping up your UK govt pension, since you sound like you're still not old enough to apply for the Australian govt pension - and once you leave Australia, you won't be able to apply for it.

 

Looked into that already but who knows what will happen with UK state pensions? I've got 27 qualifying years in and I don't think it's worth adding to. As for the Oz pension, it's means-tested and I have too much means! And no, I'm a long way off being old enough to apply for it anyway.

[Sloth]

20 minutes ago, MARYROSE02 said:

So far as I know you won't have any legal problems transferring money from Australia to the UK, although there may be taxation issues.  I transfer relatively small sums on a regular basis from my UK bank account to my Australian bank account using Transferwise. I have to do tax returns in both countries and everything is (I hope) above board.

You could draw an income from your Australian super fund(s) and have it paid into your UK bank account rather than cash it all in and transfer it to the UK. I went back to the UK for 12 years and I have a UK employer's pension paid into my Australian bank account every month with no charges either. It never occurred to me to try and cash it in and transfer it to Australia although I could have taken a lump sum rather than maximum pension. The potential drawback is being subject to the vagaries of the exchange rate.

Are you 100 per cent committed to moving back to the UK? After 13 "happy years" you might be homesick for Tasmania so you could "hedge your bets" and keep the house here, rented out if you choose just in case you change your mind.

I am not recommending that course of action by the way, nor offering any kind of financial advice. In retrospect I should probably have sold my house in the UK before I returned to Australia although when I left the UK I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. The house in the UK has been rented out so I get an income. The estate agent manages it for me, arranges repairs, pays my income into my UK bank account, and takes 11 per cent I think of the gross rent. If I decide to sell, I need to move the personal effects I stored in the loft but I'm sure the estate agent will be able to arrange it all if I ask them.

I thought about taking an income stream from my super but decided I would be a lot happier having everything in the same country! I don't think we'll change our minds about relocating, but you never know I suppose.

The move to Oz has been very good for us financially, but now I'm effectively retired and my wife can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we realised we'd like to go home.

Our reasons for wanting to go back are more hillwalking/cultural/holidaying in Europe oriented with a view to seeing out our retirement, plus my wife has family in the UK that she likes-I'm not so keen on mine.

Edited August 5, 2019 by Sloth

[AliQ]

35 minutes ago, Sloth said:

After 13 happy years here in Tassie, over the weekend we decided we'd like to go back to the UK. I'm effectively retired, my wife has about 2 years to go to her super preservation age so that's our time frame.

We haven't really got very far with our planning yet, but one option is to cash in our super and our other investments, sell the house and just transfer the cash across and reinvest it once back in the UK.

We'd be using OFX to make the transfer, but what I'm slightly concerned about is the sudden appearance of what would be quite a large amount in our UK bank account-is it likely to arouse suspicion of money laundering or some other dubious activity?

Do I just need to notify the bank ahead of time what I intend to do?

 

 

 

My husband now receives his super as a fortnightly payment into our bank, but they will NOT pay into our UK bank account, it has to go into our Australian bank account, the other option was to have a cheque posted to us every now and again.

Before we left Australia (after 28 years) we did some investigating as we wanted this payment to go into our UK bank account. We were told that the Australian Super Funds can NOT pay, if it is a regular ongoing payment, into a foreign bank account, they will only pay into an Australian bank account.

We also contacted the Superannuation Body that governs all Super funds, they told us it is very rare to find a Super Fund that will pay REGULAR payments into foreign bank accounts. This sounded odd to us as Centrelink pay into foreign bank accounts, but on investigating this appeared to be the majority rule at this time.

You need to contact your super fund to find out the current rules. There were many industry changes last year that are applicable to all funds.

And no, no need to inform the bank of any deposits. If they have any concerns then they will contact you.

 

[AliQ]

5 minutes ago, Sloth said:

I thought about taking an income stream from my super but decided I would be a lot happier having everything in the same country! I don't think we'll change our minds about relocating, but you never know I suppose.

The move to Oz has been very good for us financially, but now I'm effectively retired and my wife can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we realised we'd like to go home.

Our reasons for wanting to go back are more hillwalking/cultural/holidaying in Europe oriented with a view to seeing out our retirement, plus my wife has family in the UK that she likes-I'm not so keen on mine.

You sound exactly like us.

Please, seriously think very hard about this, take it from me who has moved back to the UK twice since taking early retirement.

We’re currently in the UK for another “tasting session” of life in the UK. 

I doubt we will stay, I really do. We have given ourselves nine months to think it out. And I was adamant that the UK is where I wanted to end my days (relatives, Europe, countryside, pubs etc etc, ) 

I wish you well.

[MARYROSE02]

Some of these topics are relevant to me, e.g. thinking about retirement as I'm 65. I was working more or less quite happily, part time and casual two months ago but then I changed my mind. I've not actually "retired" but not gone back to work. I should be at work now (4pm to 9pm) so what am I doing instead? Taking a renewed interest in PomsinOZ!

I also need to transfer a lump sum from a rollover fund into my super fund and maybe start drawing an income if I am retired.

[MARYROSE02]

3 minutes ago, AliQ said:

You sound exactly like us.

Please, seriously think very hard about this, take it from me who has moved back to the UK twice since taking early retirement.

We’re currently in the UK for another “tasting session” of life in the UK. 

I doubt we will stay, I really do. We have given ourselves nine months to think it out. And I was adamant that the UK is where I wanted to end my days (relatives, Europe, countryside, pubs etc etc, ) 

I wish you well.

When I was in Perth (WA) over Xmas/New Year 2017/18 I met an English couple from Lymington, Hants, not far from my home village, who spend four months over the UK winter in Perth. I thought that is one way of having the best of both worlds, assuming you like the heat of course.

I miss cycling and walking in the New Forest which I used to do nearly every day and not been on a bike since.  I enjoyed my 12 years back in England but I've no close relatives there now.

[Sloth]

6 minutes ago, AliQ said:

You sound exactly like us.

Please, seriously think very hard about this, take it from me who has moved back to the UK twice since taking early retirement.

We’re currently in the UK for another “tasting session” of life in the UK. 

I doubt we will stay, I really do. We have given ourselves nine months to think it out. And I was adamant that the UK is where I wanted to end my days (relatives, Europe, countryside, pubs etc etc, ) 

I wish you well.

I see that last time you were here you only stayed for 3 months. What made you decide to go back to the UK again?

[AliQ]

3 minutes ago, Sloth said:

I see that last time you were here you only stayed for 3 months. What made you decide to go back to the UK again?

Long story. 

We should have stayed longer in the UK first time round to “sort out our true thoughts”

I wanted to stay in the UK (when the six month tenancy was up) my husband did not, so off we went back to Australia. Got off to a dodgy start once back in Aus though which coloured our thoughts ( that was misguided ! ) so we both decided that the UK was the place to be.

Now we are back, we are seeing things SO much clearer and we are in a better frame of mind to sort this out.

Despite all the money it’s cost to keep moving, it’s been very well worth it, as it’s truely clarified our thoughts. Being back near relatives is NEVER a reason to return to the UK, well, not in our book anyway but I know everyone is different so take that statement with a pinch of salt

I will say though, we acknowledge how lucky we are to have the choice, and we are very grateful to be able to return to Australia whenever we wish.

[Tulip1]

The uk bank will contact you if they want more information as to the source of the large credits. You will be able to easily document that they are legitimate funds if asked so I wouldn’t worry.  You would just have to furnish the bank with documentation showing it’s origin. 

Edited August 5, 2019 by Tulip1

[Di Vale]

Hi Sloth 

I see you are thinking of moving back to UK from Tas 

I'm doing the same too

Do you mind me asking ..Will you be shipping furniture back , If so do you happen to know of any shipping companies in Tas 

i  thought I was sorted with Seven Seas Move Cube , but it appears that they don't service Tas ..It all as to go to Melbourne 

Cheers Di 

 

 

[Sloth]

2 minutes ago, Di Ebbett said:

Hi Sloth 

I see you are thinking of moving back to UK from Tas 

I'm doing the same too

Do you mind me asking ..Will you be shipping furniture back , If so do you happen to know of any shipping companies in Tas 

i  thought I was sorted with Seven Seas Move Cube , but it appears that they don't service Tas ..It all as to go to Melbourne 

Cheers Di 

 

 

We only began to think about going back over last weekend so we haven't reached that stage yet. Off the top of my head, you could try Allied Pickford or Chess.