Pensions and moving abroad

King_David_2

This is an area I've been wondering about during the course of this year.

I have been paying into a stakeholder pension for the last three or four years now (am nearly 24) and want to know whether this money is lost should I move to another country outside the EU - that country being Australia.

Aside from Mr Shilling - can anyone shed some light on this area as I have stuggled to find information on it.

Many thanks in advance.

Debt_Free_Chick

No you won't lose it, but it will probably stay here in the UK. You may be able to transfer it to a suitable Oz plan, but this is a real nightmare. People have been known to lose the will to live, trying to arrange this

On the assumption that you leave the plan in the UK, when you retire, you use the fund to buy an annuity, from a UK annuity provider (insurance company) and the amount will be paid in GBP£. If you want the annuity paid to you in Oz (or wherever) then you will need to pay the charges to convert the currency.

Regards

littleangel

Yes, you can transfer your UK pension fund into an "approved" Australian superannuation fund. The UK government websites don't appear to have much information about this, so either speak to an IFA and / or check out the Oz tax office website at https://www.ato.gov.uk and have a look at the information about superannuation. Or email some of the larger Australian superannuation fund providers - they should be more helpful than the UK pension funds as they want your money!

isasmurf

As has already been stated you can transfer your pension to an Australian provider. Looking at the guidance it looks like you can do this providing you have no intention to return to the UK to work or retire, and you are employed or self-employed in the country you are moving to (but not working for a UK taxpaying company).

It all looks rather complicated.

frugal_dougal_3

Can anyone answer.....

If someone is already receiving a private pension when they emigrate, does this payment have to pass through a UK bank to a foreign bank and incur transfer charges and exchange rate variations every month ?

If this is the case then you're really never going to be quite sure how much you will receive each month.

Or is there some other way of doing it ?