marjoriefb

Hi,
We are moving to central portugal soon and would be glad to hear from other brits about a) tax and b) tht best way to receive Uk state & private pensions

TaviraTrog

I know you can have your state pension paid into your PT bank account but private pensions are a different kettle of fish.

Investigate whether your private pensions can be paid overseas. I have a civil service pension and the government will only pay it into a UK bank account. This means I shall either have to look for a UK bank that doesn't charge for transfers or use one of the numerous foreign currency exchange companies to make monthly transfers.

The former seems unlikely and the latter is problematic. It's difficult to work out whether they actually do give you as good an exchange rate as they boast.

Let's hope your query results in some advice that will be useful for both of us.

crispy

I don't know much about PT banking but I (living in Spain at the moment) have my pension paid in to the London branch of my Spanish bank, we only had to pay a one off payment of £35 to have the first amount of money sent over and now every transaction we do is free of charge. We get a pretty good rate of exchange most times and the more you bring over the better the rate is. On average if we bring £500 we get in the region of 729euros maybe a bit more sometimes a wee bit less. For the money to arrive it takes three days, we don't have to go to a bank to do it we just fax the London branch with all our details and hey presto it's done. Maybe not as good as some people get but we are more than happy with it as it is hassel free.


Have you tried looking to see if there are branches in both England and Portugal of banks, I didn't even have to go to the London Branch to open the account it was all done over the phone and they sent me the paper work to sign and send back. Just a thought, I thought it may be of some use.

Hi marjoriefb, welcome to Portugal, I'm crispygirl, living in Spain awaiting sale of house to make the move over the boarder, sorry I can't help with the tax as I don't have enough of the green stuff to may tax on

TaviraTrog

We opened an account with Banco Santander because they have a branch in UK but were then told that the 2 banks are entirely separate entities.

So, we're still looking around for the best solution.

tomkat

Hi
Have you tried Banco Espirito Santo?
They have branches in London.

omostra06

easier just to open an account in Portugal. you can easily move money from uk into pt account.
even Barclays pt is seperate from Barclays uk

Cleri

We have a Gov pension paid direct into out pt account.
We have a uk building society account which generates monthly interest,that is paid into our Uk nat west account,and we periodically put a uk cheque into our portuguese bank,it takes a while to clear,but we found it the cheapest option,think it costs about 8 euros

crispy

To have a Natwest cheque paid into our Banca March here in Spain takes 20 days to clear and they won't let us draw on it until the twenty days are up. Was a bit frantic the first time this happened so we now keep extra funds in London Banca March.

TouristTrap

Oh, hold me back. I think you're new so you've never read my US banking story.

My mom came over on holiday for a couple of months years ago. Her bank had run out of traveler's checks that Saturday so they gave her an international banker's draft.

She took it into the local bank here to open an account and they told her it would take SIX MONTHS to clear (not kidding). My mother was so shocked, she asked the woman if they were sending it over to AFrica by slow boat.

I took the check back, called her bank's New York branch and had the money cleared and in my account within 3 days!!!

The banking system here is beyond backwards compared to Europe and even South Africa!

omostra06

wow thats a long time.... what would happen to the exchange rate in 6 months never mind inflation...

TaviraTrog

But has anyone had any experience with the various currency exchange companies such as Currencies Direct ? Do they offer a good service for monthly transfers?

My only experience so far has been transferring lump sums. They do not charge for over £5000 but, unfortunately, my pension does not amount to that.

What I really want to know is what is the most cost-effective way in which to transfer a monthly pension. Of course one could wait until one has the five grand and then transfer it (keep taking the pils)

Cleri

Trog,
My hubs pension is civil service,and it is paid direct into our PT account.
It "clears" if you like,through our Nat West account,but they send it to the PT bank at no cost.
The government have set this up for peeps like us.
So you have to have a uk account,but you wont pay for the transfer.
Is that as clear as mud?

TaviraTrog

Interesting; I shall have to look into this as all the FCO told me was that it would have to be paid into a UK bank account. When I asked my bank about transfers they told me there would be a charge of £21 each time. I object to the idea of paying out £252 pa of my hard-earned cash.

Perhaps I shall just have to change banks. Could it really be that easy

crispy

I remember reading this a few months back when I was checking you all out, banks like to keep your money for as long as the can as they get the interest on it banks who need them when you have a mattress

Cleri

ALL Uk banks have to do this,free of charge,the government have given them a directive about it.
They HAVE to transfer it free,obviously they keep it a few days:curse:
If you dont get any joy with the bank,speak to the source of your pension,they should be able to help,I know its true cos we are doing it!!!!!