Non-UK resident + Defined Benefit plan

watervolume

xylophone said:

You might try here

hxxps://www.blacktowerfm.com/services/international-pensions/

I emailed them and one of their guys phoned me back, took down some details and said he would get someone from his team to call me on Thursday. Thursday came and went with nary an update. Then on Monday an adviser emailed me to apologise saying he was too busy the previous week and suggested a call this week. Fine, we arranged a call for Thursday. Thursday came and another email from him arrived saying the call needed postponing by an hour or two. Fine. Then I never heard back from him again.

How highly unprofessional!

Someone suggested I try getting an adviser via a website called "The Evidence-Based Investor". Is anyone familiar with them?

xylophone

Do you mean this?

https://www.evidenceinvestor.com/find-an-adviser/

It is a question of whether any adviser here can offer the specialised service that you require.

Did you try Harrison Brooks?

https://harrisonbrook.com/

Is there any contractual obligation to you at all in the existing scheme?

https://www.financialadvice.net/uk_pension_annuity_for_expats_and_foreign_nationals/video/1819/14

https://www.financialadvice.net/contact_the_roberts_clark_team/contact/1397/27

Bostonerimus1

watervolume said:

Bostonerimus1 said:

This won't help the OP, but for anyone thinking of moving overseas it's important to think ahead and work out how to access financial accounts and pensions. Things to consider are 2FA and any restrictive rules about opening accounts if you are non-resident.

The above is a really good point.

As an aside, I actually left the UK around 2006, years before "pension freedom" came about and before Brexit, both of which I believe are responsible for the banes of my current situation: the requirement for financial advice prior to a DB pension transfer and the end of new account opening for non-UK (at least non-EEA) residents at major SIPP and annuity providers.

It's difficult to anticipate what politicians might do in the future to make your life difficult and things have greatly changed since 2006.  As an expat I only qualified for basic state pension under the old rules and I'm substantially better off with the new state pension, but it could have easily gone the other way and still could. My qualifying years increased from 30 to 35, which I paid, but I still keep paying voluntary Class 2 NI, even though I don't need to under the current rules, just in case they are changed again. The cost of Class 2 NI is pretty trivial so I look at it as very low cost insurance. Interestingly as I approached 30 years of NI I got a letter from HMRC that said that I would not need to pay anymore to get the full basic pension, I then got another that said the rules had changed and that I would need to pay 5 more years, but as I approached 35 years I got no letters saying I could stop contributing and just kept getting the annual bills; the onus had switched to me to understand the rules. I've made a conscious decision to pay when I don't need to and HMRC keeps talking my money without question. That's ok with me, but there might be people overpaying who don't want to.

Luckily I have no other finances in the UK so I don't have to deal with accessing UK private pensions or investments.

watervolume

Just wondering if I've been over-thinking my problem.

Even if I'm a non-UK-resident, I believe I can consolidate my UK pension plans within the UK, e.g. do a pension transfer from Standard Life to Aviva. 

My understanding is that with my existing Aviva pension plan, I can still do drawdowns at retirement even if I'm based overseas. So if I can get my problematic pension plan with the guarantee underpin transferred to Aviva, I don't have to worry about setting up an international SIPP account, and that's half the problem solved. The other half is finding a decent IFA who can give advice, and I've just read that Aviva have their own financial advisers. On their FAQ page they do mention transferring DB pension plans.

Does anyone have any experience with Aviva financial advisers in terms of quality and cost? I'll probably drop them a message to see if they will take on someone living abroad.

watervolume

Aviva Financials got back to me and told me they only offer their services to UK residents.

nigelbb

If I were the OP I would move back to the UK for a few months & sort out transfer to a SIPP or buy an annuity or whatever seems the best way of releasing the money.

QrizB

nigelbb said:

If I were the OP I would move back to the UK for a few months & sort out transfer to a SIPP or buy an annuity or whatever seems the best way of releasing the money.

There have been previous threads where meeting an IFA face-to-face in the UK was suggested as a way around the obstacles that otherwise prevent advice being given to non-UK residents. That might be an option here too.

watervolume

I still have time so I'll keep a lookout for an easier way out.

Otherwise, flights to/from the UK, accommodation and time itself would cost a pretty penny.