Guest Glynn2547 Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hi, in the late 80's I was told to opt out of serps, so I did. Has anybody on here been in the same position and how did you get on? I'm not even sure who to contact it was what seems so long ago. any help would be appreciated Regards Glynn:smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquaaddict Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hi I was just thinking about this as I also opted out many years ago. I guess the good news is that we have now have private pensions that our NI contributions went towards, which we chould be able to draw in any country (although I dont think mine is worth much :-( ). Do you know how many years of NI contributions you have made? I only have 14 so if I understand it correctly I would have to make voluntary contributions for another 16 to get 30 years worth to then be able to claim the reduced UK state pension amount, which prob isnt worth it, but I guess really need to speak to HMRC or an accountant to work out our induvual cases. Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Glynn2547 Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hi Aquaaddict, I started when I was around 18 or 21 years old, can't remember. I'm now 40 so 19-20 years I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquaaddict Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hi Glyn, So what the actual question you are asking about opting out, and its relation to Oz? Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Glynn2547 Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hi Anthony, yes (I think), I wanted to know if you or anybody like me had opted out of serps some time ago and moved to oz how did they go about transferring it and adding it to the Aussie pension. Can you add it to the Aussie pension? Glynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquaaddict Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I am not in Oz myself yet (Jan 2010 hopefully!), but my guesstimate is that no we prob cant merge them. When you (we) opted out of serps basically a proportion of the money that the UK goverment would have put into the state pension fund on our behalf was instead put into private pension funds in our own names. In my experience private pension funds cannot be merged, at most you maybe able to cash it in then put that money into another fund (or make overpayements into the Oz pension), but you normally loose out alot of money by cashing it in. Its not unusal to have several or many private pensions if they came with jobs and then you moved on etc. In some ways its kinda nice having it as a private fund that way we should be able to claim them regardless of what country we are in. However I would suggest you contact the private pension provider and have a chat with them about your specifics. If you are not even sure who that provider is then go back to teh advisor that set it up for you or contact HMRC, they should have a record. I am not a financial adviser, this is just my thoughts on the subject having considered it myself, so I welcome opinions from those greater than myself, or to be totally ignored hee hee. A related question is if it is worth still making voluntry contributions to NI, so that we couls still in future claim a much reduced state pension and /or Uk benifits, or whether to just put more money into our UK pensions or Oz ones. I guess some of it depends on how sure you are as to what country you will retire in. Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Glynn2547 Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 thanks anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sioux Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 www.thepensionservice.gov.uk This is the Government web site for all pension queries. It also has links to other Government services. Hope it is of some help. x x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brooksey Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 i have no idea who my serps is with but i phoned the inland revenue and they told me so long as i had payed 20 years volantary contributions then i can claim my pension in Oz. So i have 4 more years to pay which comes automatically out of my UK bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markntracey Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 i too contracted out in 1989 so just made the 20 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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