stafford1954

My wife and I have submitted our papers to Adelaide and are going through the dreaded period of waiting but as we plan things, the one area that causes us grief is her pension and how to transfer it to Oz.

Has anybody transferred a pension from the UK to WA and if so, how did you go about it, what were the problems and how much did you lose as we are losing a lot of sleep over this headache as we believe that there are time frames and legalities that are needed to be able to keep one's final salary index.

Does she lose her index linking, how is the money transferred and how can we verify the current transfer worth of this fund. Finally, do we need to transfer it to western australia before we leave the uk?

For reference, she has almost 25 years of contributions with the same health authority within the NHS scheme and is currently an E grade.

We are based in the Glasgow area so if anybody can point us in the right direction we shall be eternally grateful.

Cheers and good luck with your application.

Regards

Paul & May

You can e-mail us on [email protected]

Stewie

Hi Paul & May

We are in a similar situation with final salary pension schemes, my wifes is also NHS.

If you search for pensions on the forums you will see it is a complicated situation and what you actually do with the pension will be specific for each individual.

You may need proffessional advice to avoid tax implications in Aus.

I am currently seeking advice from advisors in Aus.

Hope this helps

Regards

Wol

It has only recently come to my own attention that, if you have an index-linked final salary scheme, PART of the drawn pension is deemed to be the Govt. minimum guaranteed pension if you are opted-out.

In this case, not only does your STATE pension get frozen in Oz, but also does the MG part of your "company" pension.

Iniquitous - but no use complaining to anyone - they are all on indexed pensions themselves!

Tass

Hi Paul & May , we are at same situation. We are both nurses and both work in Glasgow. I know my husband has already looked into this but I am not sure at what info stage he is at. Can't ask him 'cause he's on duty but will do later. Why don't you post this thread on the Nursing forum of british expats i am sure the guys there will have already been & done this and are wearing the T shirt. All the best , Tass.

jaruky

We are going through a similar thing and met this company at the York show - www.prismxpat.com - all advice seemed very good and we are planning to meet them more formally in the next couple of weeks, and no charge - yet.

let us know if you find anything more out...........

Jaruky

Roger

Hi,
I have about 21 years superannuation with the NHS and left with it based on the top increment of the ladder (I grade). Indeed if I was 60yrs now it would pay out not much less than I earn now as a staff nurse here.

Over the past year there have been numerous discussions about this pension, but no resolution. I am always anxious about the 'sharks' in the pension industry and what a 'balls up' they can make. I have an Equitable Life one too!!

I wasn't under the impression it was frozen like the state pension. Anyway hope to be able to claim a Kiwi state pension then too (for what it is worth). What percentage is frozen due to opting out. Explanation would help.

What happens if you return to the UK. Many do, and you would have stuffed up your pension.

Roger

P.S. To anyone coming to NZ. It is totally up to you to make provision. No employers contributions, tax breaks etc. That's why they're mad on buying rentals.

JAJ

Index linking on the UK state basic pension is lost if you are living in Australia.

My understanding is that this does *not* apply to other pension schemes, whether private or public.

Transferring any pension - especially a good one like the NHS scheme - ought to be approached with extreme caution. And tax is not the only issue to look at.

If you transfer into a 'money purchase' type scheme then you have a lot of investment risk (and charges) to worry about.

If you later return to the UK, transferring a pension to Australia or NZ may not be such a wonderful idea in retrospect.

And if you stay in Australia/NZ, having a foreign source of income may be a useful currency hedge long term, in case the dollar weakened a lot further.

I'm not saying don't transfer a pension - just be very, very careful before taking decisions that may be irreversible.

Competent professional advice is absolutely essential.



Jeremy

Wol

Jeremy:

My information is that, if you have a company pension which is now "paying", and the company opted you out of SERPS, the situation is that a portion of the company pension is taken to eqate to the "Minimum Guarantee". The company then freezes this portion as is the state pension frozen.

Letters from my pension manager back this up, although the language is.... dense.

I would be delighted to hear otherwise from someone who is an expert.