Guest R&NLOI Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Hi All, My wife & myself need some help regarding our UK pensions. What should we do with our pensions?, I have had one for 12 years & would like to know what options I have? Thanks :unsure: Rajesh & Narinder Loi 136 VISA APPLIED FOR 24TH AUGUST 2007. FULL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FILE REFERENCE 15TH FEB 2008. CASE OFFICER ALLOCATED 24 APRIL 2008. VISA GRANTED 27TH JUNE 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrammies Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 yyou need to see a specialist i don't know much but there is a 6 month rule for transfering pension to oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kali02 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Hi All, My wife & myself need some help regarding our UK pensions. What should we do with our pensions?, I have had one for 12 years & would like to know what options I have? Thanks :unsure: Rajesh & Narinder Loi Hi Rajesh I work in pensions, but am not authorised to give financial advice, so can only give you some generalised facts regarding your possible options. Of course, you should never act on what just anyone tells you - you must speak to a financial advisor. Basically, you should be aware that a pension is not a savings account whereby you can withdraw money when you want - you probably already know that but would be surprised at the number of people who say 'I've left my employer and want to withdraw my money please'! :arghh: You mention you've had one pension for over 12 years... if this is the case, your options will be to either leave it where it is in the UK until you retire or to arrange to transfer this to an Australian superannuation fund. You can currently take retirement benefits from a UK pension (occupational or personal) from age 50, regardless of whether or not you have actually retired. This would be subject to the rules of the arrangement (more so if it is an occupational one) and you should definitely seek financial advice if you consider this option. This is especially important as the age at which you can retire will increase to 55 in a few years and should you retire before that age now, any sum you receive could be seen as an unauthorised payment by the HMRC and subsequently subject to a higher tax penalty. You do not need to be living in the UK, however your arrangement may require a UK bank account in which to pay the funds. They will not accept liability for any costs associated with you then moving this to Australia or due to movements in the currency markets. You will be taxed on any pension you receive as if it's income, and also on any lump sum above the value of 25% of your fund. You should be aware that EVERY UK pension you have will be taken into account when determining your pension benefits from each individual plan to ensure that your benefits do not exceed the maximums allowed. If your arrangements are all of different types, it can be quite complicated to calcuate the value of benefits and therefore you should not attempt this yourself - you may only end up disappointed. The administrators of each plan will calculate benefits for you, however you yourself are responsible for ensuring that the correct tax is paid, so this is one reason in itself why you should speak to a financial advisor. You will need to discuss this with a tax accountant in Australia to find out how your UK pension would be treated over there. I suspect you would not be taxed on the income as you would already have been taxed in the UK at source, but you should definitely check this out. For transferring, you would need to choose a superannuation arrangement in Australia that was approved by the ATO - either a personal arrangement / wrap, or one provided via your employer. The Australian arrangement has to have received recognition from the HMRC as qualifying to accept transfers from the UK, it will have a certificate and registration number to prove this. The rules of that arrangement would have to allow a transfer to take place and the arrangement would have to meet certain requirements set down by the HMRC before a transfer could take place. Once you have an arrangement in Australia, contact the providers/administrators of your UK plans and tell them you want to transfer - they will help you take the process forward and ensure all requirements are met. There used to be a requirement that you provide evidence that you were paying tax in Australia (a letter from the ATO) and that you didn't intend to return to the UK to retire before the HMRC would allow a transfer. I am not sure if that is still the case, but your provider/administrator in the UK will let you know the current rules. I am not aware that there is any waiting period before transferring to Australia, however individual employers or superannuation plans may have a requirement that you have been employed or a member for a certain period before they will allow you to transfer benefits in. This is because by accepting the transfer, they will be accepting liability to pay your retirement benefits instead of the UK plan. Anyone considering transferring a pension benefit elsewhere should, always, always, always, speak to a financial advisor beforehand. I for one will certainly not take any responsibility for people acting without taking advice from a financial advisors who is qualified to advise on pension products!! Hope this helps! K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jaynie Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Hi Rajesh, As our friend has explained to you above, you can bring it across and put it into a supperannuation fund. We dealt with AMP, but there are several companies to deal with once you get over here. Good luck in your new life in Oz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cole Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Don't use Prism Xpat whatever you do, they took over a year to transfer mine, lost the cheque twice & missed the 6 month cut off .....great work Prism!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mudhut29 Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Hi Guys, endorse entirely what the other respondents have said. I can only quote our experience. We left the uk in 1993 and were informed that we could not transfer our occupational pensions under any circumstances. In 1995 we found a great finance guy in OZ who gave it go. It took him 18 months to research the law and convince the uk pension funds that we could transfer. transferred into an approved super fund in OZ and have never regretted it. It makes my blood boil when I read of the parlous state of the uK pension industry especially after that crook brown raided the pension funds. I would add that after you transfer to OZ try and put your funds with an industry fund as you will pay less fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SEAMUS OCONNOR Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 please give me some more detail as I have worked in this field a while ago please contact me with more detail.Ie what state dfo you live in in Australia Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I can only endorse what the others have said - get good independent financial advice especially if the pension scheme you have is a final salary scheme. Also remember that once you bring your superannuation into Australia you wont be able to take it out again if things should go pear shaped and it will have to stay here until you reach retirement age if you have PR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest R&NLOI Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Hi Guys, Thanks for the advice on the pension. I have got advice & sorted it out. My pension should be transferred over the few months. Thanks again. Rajesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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