I have a Industy Super-fund (Hesta) and am thinking that is might be a viable to transfer my NHS Pension into the Hesta Super.

Been here for nearly 3 years.

I know that you pay tax on monies coming in after 6 months, but I would also pay tax on my NHS Pension coming to me when I've retired ...so which way is the best way??

Thanks

My view is, take the plunge and get it over here, you'll only be paying tax on the gain that its made in the past 3 years and I dont think the market has done anything too dramatic in that time.
I figure the money's much more flexible in how you want to invest it here and its not like your bringing in a wad of cash you have direct access to anyway, any slight tax impact will be long forgotten by the time you get to cash it in (obviously depending on how old you are)

Thanks - I've been leaning towards that, but to be honest - was getting befuddled with information given on sites I've looked at.

Have you, or anyone used a Financial Service to procure the transfer ...and if so...how much should I expect to pay for this service?

I went and got some free advice, on moving it across, they were looking at charging around $4k to do it plus another $500 or something for each additional pension. Walked out and realised they we're basically filling out a few forms, so did it myself, took about an hour....
how smooth and quick the actual transfer across will be I dont know, only sent the forms a week or two ago.

I wasn't envisaging that sort of fee !!

How did you get the forms needed ?... might be worth a look at doing it myself too

Thanks
Cas

My question is how to time the tax side of it. We saw an actuary in the UK who did all the sums for us, but as we didnt pay for the full service couldnt find out when was the best time to move it. Pauls pension is a cracker so we will lose a fortune if we move it at the wrong time. We have joined qrops super schemes over here now and have his pension statement from the UK arrive yesterday, so we are on the right road now.

We are using these in UK (office inOZ too)

www.globalpensions.com.au

Seem sound..

Dave

They may be, but their website says their fees are still 2.75% on pure transfer (min AUD990) and I don't see any cap mentioned? With advice the fees are even higher, and just get a commitment that they are not receiving a trail from any superannuation fund they recommend - ideally you should be receiving "independent advice".

Also, they mention fees are deducted from the new superannuations scheme - my "public offer" scheme wouldn't allow this so I don't know how they manage it, unless by some sort of private arrangement. It should be illegal to directly deduct fees from pension balances which are transferred.

Sorry, I'm correcting myself - sadly this is quite common - GlobalPension do in fact cap fees and it is mentioned clearly in their website. Fees for advice + transfer apparently range from 3.5% to 5.5% but are subject to capping .. at exactly what value is a little bit hard to determine ... "Our intention is to cap our fees for larger amounts, which of course will be based upon a case-by-case basis & the degree of complexity involved"

What do people reckon about DIY ...and if so...how?

Thanks

Sorry for my ignorance on this issue but I have only started looking at this issue.

Should there be a minimum amount in a fund when considering a transfer? I have only been with my organization since mid 2000 and am therefore unsure if I should try and move it. However, I am more worried that by the time my time comes to retire that they will have lost/destroyed my files (although I do have a full copy of them at home just in case).

Does it make a difference if my occupation pension is with the civil service? Does this make a difference to anything?

Can you transfer a pension at any point after leaving the Uk or does it need to be done within a certain timeframe?

Do you have to wait until you get there to transfer it?

I have been in mine since 2000 and was told it wasnt worth moving over, whereby my OH has had 19yrs under his belt and they have said it is worth moving over. I suppose it depends how much you have paid into it.

thanks

I cant see why the amount in the fund has any relevance to whether you move it over or not???
You either bring it over now, pay the tax on the gain and do what you want with it over here and have access to it when you retire,
or you leave it there it possibly grows and you then decide to bring it over at a later date and pay a larger chunk of tax.
or you leave it there, when it matures you give yourself a headache in trying to access the money and invariably pay tax....
seems a no brainer to me, I cant see why leaving any amount there is worth it.

I agree. Move over now rather than let the goverment get a big chunk of it, regardless of its size.

I've just rang about transferring mine (18 years in it). They said they'll send me a transfer value quotation so i can transfer it across. apparently i just show this to my new pension provider and they'll do the rest? can anyone confirm if its that easy?

also, the tricky bit, how do i choose a new pension provider? I've printed off a list from UK Inland Revenue on the QROPS ones, but there's tons. How do i know which is a good one, do they have such things as league tables to look at on their past performances?

Would like to sort out as hubby got about 4 seperate pensions that need transferring into one.

KAREN