Self Manage SIPP?

DRS1

Are you planning to stay in France for the rest of your life or might you come back to the UK? Will you be drawing from the pension while resident in France? If so this may be of interest though it is a bit light on detail

How UK Pensions Are Taxed in France: Double Tax Treaty Rules Explained | Skybound Wealth

If you own property in France you might want to think about separate wills for France and the rest of the world.

Mercuryrev

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119190#Comment_82119190

Thanks for the reply

I have drawn from it whilst here and paid tax here, we are NT in the UK. Eventually we will come back but not for the foreseeable future.

Don't get me started on wills in France….. Whilst they now comply with EU law on allowing foreign wills, they aren't making that very well known. Why would they, they earn so much in inheritance tax!

dunstonh

As above I have very limited investment knowledge but I at least have the time to learn. The SIPP is currently invested with three different investment companies and there has been very little 'management' by our FA, or the company they work for.

Once you become resident in the EU, it's pretty much game over between you and your adviser. They should end their ongoing servicing, lower the fee, and that's it.

The EU doesn't allow UK financial services companies to retail services to EU residents unless the company in question has a physical branch in the country you are resident in. Or they have passporting rights across the EU from a physical branch within the EU. The vast majority do not.

Mercuryrev

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119354#Comment_82119354

Thanks for your reply.

Can I ask what do you mean by 'lower their fee'? If they are no longer able to advise then there aren't any fees? Or am I showing my ignorance, again?

Your second paragraph suggests that some UK financial services companies can still be used, do you know of any that can?

Brexit keeps on giving doesn't it….

dunstonh

Can I ask what do you mean by 'lower their fee'? If they are no longer able to advise then there aren't any fees? Or am I showing my ignorance, again?

It is unclear from your first post but your comments indicated that the FA was still providing management, albeit very little. Provision of services is fee-based. So if they are providing services, albeit minimal then this would suggest you are paying for it.

Alternatively, the "very little management" may be because you are no longer paying for it and servicing (and the fee) ended when you left the UK.

If they can't provide the service because you are no longer resident in the UK, then that fee should stop.

Your second paragraph suggests that some UK financial services companies can still be used, do you know of any that can?

Typically, it's firms that market to expats. So you could give that an online search. Very few IFAs will exist in that market. Most will be FAs, unfortunately.

Brexit keeps on giving doesn't it….

The restrictions on financial services companies operating in the EU is a Brexit punishment from the EU. Other countries on other continents have greater access to the EU than the UK does, despite the UK rulebook matching EU regulations at the point of the UK leaving (although since then, there has been some minor divergence, getting rid of some silly EU requirements - although nothing major).

Bostonerimus1

Beware of companies that market themselves to expats. It's a sector full of bad and expensive advice and products. Ask your questions over at Britishexpats.com and get some advice from people who are in your exact situation. ie British resident in France.

I have a friend who has lived in France for 40 years, she moved there straight out of college. All her finances are in France so she doesn't have the problem of owning accounts in the UK, but Brexit could have messed up her immigration status so she applied for French citizenship. She's glad to have a French passport, but deeply resents the worry and difficulties Brexit caused her. So much so that she changed parties from Conservative to Lib Dem and now always votes Lib Dem in General Elections.

Mercuryrev

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119758#Comment_82119758

Thanks for clearing that up.

The more I research the more difficult my situation appears to be. Still, I have time, thankfully, to learn, research and choose where to go next.

Thanks again.

Mercuryrev

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119987#Comment_82119987

Thanks for your reply.

From doing a bit of research I quickly came to suspect that it is quite a minefield.

I am guilty of being far too trusting when it came to my SIPP. It has performed well for the last 10 years and I was too busy getting on with life to question what changes Brexit would bring to things. The SIPP was in the UK, my drawdown went into a UK bank, what I then do with the money is irrelevant, as long as I pay my taxes in the correct place, which I have.

Bostonerimus1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120293#Comment_82120293

If you have your taxes sorted then that's good. Many people find cross border taxation to be a big issue, and some simply aren't aware of the issues. If you can learn the basics of investing then you can manage your SIPP yourself and avoid any issues with cross border IFAs.

DRS1

as long as I pay my taxes in the correct place

and on the correct amount. Sometimes what the UK treats as tax free (ISAs and TFLS) are not tax free in other countries.