What to do with Frozen private pension when living permanently abroad

Cintrapark

Question for you all. I am currently a UK expat, living in Israel. I have no intention of returning to the UK. I am 42

I have a 'frozen' pension in the UK with a small sum of £18,000. Due to UK regulations I"m unable to touch the sum (cannot contribute nor withdraw) until the age of 57. I can, however, manage it myself as I have transferred it to a SIPP.

I'm thinking whether I should place it in a Vanguard retirement fund or simply invest it 100% in an ETF (I have a simple ETF portfolio comprising of 75% Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF and 25% iShares Global AAA-AA Govt Bond UCITS ETF). Any thoughts? It's not exactly a life-changing sum of money so I'm happy to adopt some kind of risk.

xylophone

Have you looked into your state pension position?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-if-you-go-abroad

http://www.qropsspecialists.com/qrops-israel-pension-transfer-for-uk-expats-to-avoid-paying-taxes/ may be of interest.

Cintrapark

xylophone wrote: »

Have you looked into your state pension position?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-if-you-go-abroad

http://www.qropsspecialists.com/qrops-israel-pension-transfer-for-uk-expats-to-avoid-paying-taxes/ may be of interest.

Thanks - that's all sorted. I was more interested in my initial question.

buffman

[QUOTE=xylophone;75091758

http://www.qropsspecialists.com/qrops-israel-pension-transfer-for-uk-expats-to-avoid-paying-taxes/ may be of interest.[/QUOTE]

Was the QROPS tax treatment not changed in this year's first budget making it no longer an attractive option?

xylophone

Was the QROPS tax treatment not changed in this year's first budget making it no longer an attractive option?

You are right -some information here

https://www.gov.uk/transferring-your-pension/transferring-to-an-overseas-pension-scheme

bostonerimus

The UK/Israel tax treaty is quite old (1970) and is lacking in many of the standard clauses that relate to pensions. I would double check with an Israeli tax specialist if there are any local tax consequences of your transfer and whether the UK tax wrapper of the SIPP is recognised in Israel.

Thrugelmir

Cintrapark wrote: »

I can, however, manage it myself as I have transferred it to a SIPP.

A fund with a value of £18k is hardly worth a transfer to a SIPP.

Alexland

Thrugelmir wrote: »

A fund with a value of £18k is hardly worth a transfer to a SIPP.

Without knowing the current fees and investment options it's hard to comment but for some people with particularly expensive and limiting pensions it can certainly save them enough to be worth moving.

The problem the OP might find is finding a low cost SIPP platform that will allow a non UK resident to open a new account to enable the transfer.

Alex

PRAISETHESUN

Ignoring any potential issues with respect to transferring pensions, foreign countries usually don't recognise UK-specific tax wrappers such as ISAs, SIPPS, etc (I can't speak for Israel but I know Australia and the US do not) so there is no advantage of having it in a fund specifically to manage the UK tax consequences, particularly if you are not a UK tax resident and do not intend to return to the UK.

The question here I think boils down to your intended plans for this money and how much risk you can tolerate. The money is (for better or worse) stuck in place for the long haul, and you should pick an investment profile that reflects that.

xylophone

The problem the OP might find is finding a low cost SIPP platform that will allow a non UK resident to open a new account to enable the transfer.

He already has the SIPP although does not say whether or not it is low cost.

I have a 'frozen' pension in the UK with a small sum of £18,000. Due to UK regulations I"m unable to touch the sum (cannot contribute nor withdraw) until the age of 57. I can, however, manage it myself as I have transferred it to a SIPP.

He is looking for opinions on investment choices.