non UK citizens can't have pension funds

coyrls

Hoenir said:

Brie said:

Marcon said:

Brie said:

Thanks for everyone's comments.  Talked to a colleague who is slightly older than myself and he's told me which company is dealing with his pensions so I think I'll have a chat with them to see what they might do for me.  He's of my mind - if you're sitting on a sunny beach somewhere and something dreadful happens who's going to deal with the fund?  That's why I don't want to be looking after it myself.  

And I take the point about not adding an inheritance into a pension - I wouldn't have the income to cover that so it would need to go into an associated investment fund of some sort.  

Or you could consider buying an annuity with it, which would mean you can sit on the sunny beach and not worry about the 'something dreadful'. Given you'd be using your own money (as opposed to funding with money straight from a pension pot), part of each payment is treated as a return of capital, meaning you'd get favourable tax treatment.

I have considered annuities but was told I wouldn't get as good a return - hence me going to an IFA to try to get advice!

Who gave you that advice? In retirement years preservation of capital should be a key component of planning. When everybody is focussed purely on returns then it's envitable many will end up as beng disappointed. A cake can only be cut so many ways. 

I really don't get that.  How does converting capital into an annuity preserve capital?  How long do you want to preserve capital for?  Ever since the IHT announcement, people seem concerned that they are going to preserve too much capital.

Brie

@Hoenir
It's really the advice from someone who is doing nicely out of their investments but who is not a financial adviser.  Hence me looking for an adviser so I could find out what would be a good option.  And even just now looking at a website for a SIPP (not what I want really) there's the big warning of ensuring one take advice to get what is right.  

I can't get advice so I can't transfer my pensions and without advice I don't know what I should do with them.  Sigh.

xylophone

You are not compelled to take advice to transfer a straight DC pension from one scheme to another.

You may however choose to take advice.

You have the certainty of your DB and state pensions in payment.

£125,000 is a relatively modest sum - are you sure (given your background) that you could not manage this yourself within a SIPP?

Another source for advice

https://adviserbook.co.uk/

Tick "confirmed independent" and other options required when the menu comes up.

Otherwise

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/taking-your-pension/find-a-retirement-adviser

Brie

xylophone said:

You are not compelled to take advice to transfer a straight DC pension from one scheme to another.

You may however choose to take advice.

You have the certainty of your DB and state pensions in payment.

£125,000 is a relatively modest sum - are you sure (given your background) that you could not manage this yourself within a SIPP?

Another source for advice

https://adviserbook.co.uk/

Tick "confirmed independent" and other options required when the menu comes up.

Otherwise

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/taking-your-pension/find-a-retirement-adviser

Yes I could manage it - I've done share trading in the past and still do in a small way.  But the fact is I don't really want to now.  I'd rather be lazy and get someone to do the work for me in some way.  I'm at a point in my life when I've got soooo much happening I would happily get someone to simply tell me what to do.  

I've put some queries out to some recommended firms and see what I get back.

EdSwippet

dunstonh said:

With the confirmed detail of being a UK resident but a Canadian citizen, I cannot see any reason why a provider or IFA would not be able to do any work required.

At least one well known UK SIPP provider refuses entirely to open accounts for Canadian citizens, even if that person is fully resident in the UK and not any form of Canadian "tax resident":

Am I eligible for a SIPP? - AJ Bell

You can open a SIPP with us if you're a UK resident for tax purposes.
Keep in mind though that you wont be able to open one if you're a Canadian resident for tax purposes or a Canadian citizen.

This is a hard "no", fully confirmed in their T&Cs. FWIW, when AJ Bell first sneaked this into their T&Cs a few years ago, I asked them directly, and more than once, for an explanation. They never replied.

Albermarle

Brie said:

xylophone said:

You are not compelled to take advice to transfer a straight DC pension from one scheme to another.

You may however choose to take advice.

You have the certainty of your DB and state pensions in payment.

£125,000 is a relatively modest sum - are you sure (given your background) that you could not manage this yourself within a SIPP?

Another source for advice

https://adviserbook.co.uk/

Tick "confirmed independent" and other options required when the menu comes up.

Otherwise

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/taking-your-pension/find-a-retirement-adviser

Yes I could manage it - I've done share trading in the past and still do in a small way.  But the fact is I don't really want to now.  I'd rather be lazy and get someone to do the work for me in some way.  I'm at a point in my life when I've got soooo much happening I would happily get someone to simply tell me what to do.  

I've put some queries out to some recommended firms and see what I get back.

How about -
Open new SIPP ( not AJ Bell apparently ) - 10 Minutes.
Organise transfer of current DC pension to SIPP - 5 minutes.
Thinks about your risk tolerance. 15 minutes
Invest in one multi asset fund at that risk level 10 minutes.
Close computer and leave it alone until you want to withdraw from it. 

Lazy enough ?

Brie

Albermarle said:

How about -

Open new SIPP ( not AJ Bell apparently ) - 10 Minutes.
Organise transfer of current DC pension to SIPP - 5 minutes.
Thinks about your risk tolerance. 15 minutes
Invest in one multi asset fund at that risk level 10 minutes.
Close computer and leave it alone until you want to withdraw from it. 

Lazy enough ?

Hmmm...wonder what would happen if I open a Barclays SIPP?  I already have accounts with them including an investment account.  Given there is nothing on the Barclays site that says I couldn't have a SIPP.  It's only once you get a layer or 2 down do you see it's AJBell......

fyi - the website says that the Barclays SIPP (run by AJBell) is open to any resident of the UK.  

It also says that there's a basic charge of £125 a quarter (so £500 a year) for having a SIPP with AJB.  I guess that's my next mission to find out if that's reasonable and to decide if I want to proceed with them.  

EdSwippet

Brie said:

fyi - the website says that the Barclays SIPP (run by AJBell) is open to any resident of the UK.  

AJ Bell is the administrator for several other SIPP providers. IWeb/Halifax Sharedealing is another. As far as I know, though, the only SIPP to specifically exclude Canadian citizens is AJ Bell's own.

It's a mystery why. (Given AJ Bell's earlier and repeated refusal to answer when asked, perhaps worth filing a complaint with the FOS? If nothing else, that might crowbar an explanation out of them.)

Brie said:

It also says that there's a basic charge of £125 a quarter (so £500 a year) for having a SIPP with AJB.  I guess that's my next mission to find out if that's reasonable and to decide if I want to proceed with them.  

You can find the same service for less. For example, Interactive Investor will let you hold the same stuff, but at £12.99/month (or £5.99/month if your SIPP is worth less than £50k). And as a bonus, their SIPP administrator is not AJ Bell.

Brie

thank you @EdSwippet as that's very useful practical advice......will see what happens when the actual companies respond to my queries.

Albermarle

AJ Bell is the administrator for several other SIPP providers. IWeb/Halifax Sharedealing is another

Personally I would not have a SIPP with one company, when in fact there was another company running the SIPP. Too much potential for a blame game if there are any issues, and you see that happening on threads on the forum from time to time.

wonder what would happen if I open a Barclays SIPP?  I already have accounts with them including an investment account

As above, I would just open one with a provider who does their own SIPP admin ( assuming they accepted Canadian citizens of course ) The fact you have a relationship with Barclays already is not a particularly good reason for using them for a SIPP as well.