GrantP

Hiya!!

I'll be moving over to Brisbane in a couple of months, and I wondered what I should do with my UK pension!!?? .....I've only been in the scheme for 4 years, so it's hardly worth freezing as I'd get something daft like £1.50 a month when I retire! I was wondering if anyone has had any experience of transfering a UK pension to their Aussie Superannuation??

Cheers
Grant

kirsty&al

Hello Grant,

What type of pension is it?

Regards
Alistair

GrantP

Hi Alistair!

It's a final salary company pension! I have the option to freeze it at my current salary, which will be worth nothing when I retire, or I can transfer it into another pension! I'm planning on transferring it, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience of trying to do this into an Aussie pension fund or superannuation??

Thanks
Grant

GrantP

Somebody else must have gone through this??? ...or has everyone frozen their UK pensions??

AliMay

WE're transferring pensions at the moment. We took advice in the UK and now have an Oz advisor (the Oz guy is not allowed by law to advise on whether we should transfer but is facilitating the tranfer for us). We have 5 pensions between us and boy did we need the advice. We couldn't have done it on our own. Its pricey but we need the piece of mind that we're not doing something daft.

I cannot transfer my pension until I get a job here- so mines in limbo. Husband is now consolidating his pensions into a single fund in the UK which will be tranferred over to a new aussie one - separate from his employers scheme.

I would recommend that you get someone to look at your situation and give advice.

Ali

kirsty&al

Hello Grant,

I used an agent to transfer my pensions. I had 3: 1 personal, 1 group and 1 money purchase; the only type I didn't have was a final salary scheme.

It sound like you've already made the decision to move the money. First thing you need to do is talk with the administrators of your fund and find out what forms you will need for the transfer. Once you get to Oz you will need to get a job (for at least 1 day), get a recognised super fund and do whatever else your current fund administrators require. Once you have everything in place they should transfer the money into your new fund.

Things to note:
- you can't transfer your money from super back to the UK if you decide to return.
- you need to get the transfer of money started within 6 months of becoming an Oz tax payer to avoid any tax implications.

Good luck.
Alistair