Pension Transfers after emigrating

[Guest Betty Boops]

Hi, we thought about transfering our pensions before we go to oz, our visa agent recommended a company which would do this for a fee (quite large I thought). Have decided to find a financial consultant once in queensland to help with this and setting up our Supers. We fly out on June 11. Anyone got any thoughts or advice about pension transfers & supers?

[Andrew from Vista Financial]

Hi.

 

There can be some really good reasons for transferring UK Pensions to Oz and the Superannuation system here is certainly more sophisticated.

 

There are also lots of factors that need to be taken in to consideration before transferring, ie anticiapeted retirement age, type of UK fund, any penalties, Market value reductions on existing funds, lost benefits if final salary, attitude to investment risk. The list goes on.

 

If you do transfer you generally cannot take it out again if you are leaving Australia, you have a six month window to bring it to Australia with no tax implications from this side, outside of that there may be implications, however it will only be the growth of the fund that will if at all be subject to tax. This tax liability can also genarally be mitigated.

 

It is also worth considering waiting until the intention is to remain in Australia for the future.

 

Then when and if you wish to seek advice, consultant a Planner that is familiar with and has experience in both systems.

 

This is just general info and not advice.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Guest Guruju]

I agree with Andy's post.

 

As just an ordinary person who has transferred their UK pension I can only share my experience.

 

First of all, you have to be absolutely sure you will not be returning to the UK to live and you need to demonstrate this via the paperwork you complete when requesting a transfer.

 

Secondly, the Australian fund has to be on the QROPS list which can be downloaded from the UK government website.

 

Thirdly, you really do not need to pay large fees to a company to do the transfer. It is very easy to do, the UK government have lots of information on the process and you just need to follow up (by email was fine when I did it) with both the UK and Australian funds to make sure it moves along in a timely fashion. What you may need to double check is the tax situation at the time you expect to transfer in case arrangements have changed or your circumstances impact on the tax situation.

 

Julia

[Guest Betty Boops]

Thanks for the info