The_Wookie

Hi guys,
Been a long, long time since I posted in here!
I was wondering if anyone had advice/experience on how to get a UK pension to Australia (if it is even possible!).
Many thanks

spouse of scouse

Hi, are you talking about the UK State pension or a private pension?

The_Wookie

Both really.

Pollyana

Your state pension stays in the UK. When you become eligible to claim it, it can be paid to you in Australia. However it will be frozen at the date of claiming, you won't get the cost-of-living increases that you would get if it were paid to you in the UK (and most other countries)

tomar

we kept a UK bank account when we retired many years ago to Australia because that suits us, and our state and private pensions are paid into that, we then use Wise to transfer the money to our Australian bank account. Generally you get a better rate of exchange using a company like Wise. It’s an easy process.

There are over 100 countries in the world that the UK state pension is frozen, including Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, many Caribbean islands and Thailand, to mention a few.
private pensions are not frozen, the normal conditions stay the same.
Hope that helps.

spouse of scouse

Can't help with private pensions, but here's all the info you need on the State pension https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

brits1

We transferred our private pensions into our Aussie private pensions, we also continued to pay our UK state pension whilst in Australia. Good luck

rammygirl

All Uk pension payments are taxed as income in Aus, regardless of where the money is.
You don’t say if you are claiming the pensions now, if so you should be able to continue payments into your Uk account or have them paid direct into an Aus account.
Transfering a private pension pot can be done but there are few vehicles for this and you really need to take financial advice.
The state pension website has plenty of info about claiming as an ex Pat.

Kingsboy48

Regarding the frozen pension issue you are encouraged to rally to the cause by joining your fellow expats in this organisation,
https://bpia.org.au/

sunburn

Hi, I've been living Downunder 15 years now and considering moving my 2 UK pensions over.
I'm not yet retired but want to avoid 3x fees including my Aus super fund.

I have discussed at length with BDH Sterling who came recommended but I was shocked at their fees to advise/merge/transfer my 2x UK Pensions

Can anyone recommend other UK/Aus Pension companies.
I wont deal with a real shifty Co. "that sounds like a diamond company" who are shockers for scraping LinkedIn profiles and naggingly cold calling despite telling them to stop

Cheers!

rammygirl

It will depend what those pensions are and how long you have to retirement as to whether it will be worth it. It isn’t cheap both in fees and taxes to do so so you will need time to make up the loss.

We decided not to move our Uk private pensions. Mine is now being paid out and taxed as income here, husband has not drawn on his SIPP as he is still working. The options of where to put the cash in Aus is very limited now, basically an expensive self managed super fund. we took financial advice but the figures just didn’t stack up for us, despite the UK pensions being taxed.

We did however move the SIPP to a better performing cheaper fund and are very happy with the growth. Maybe consider merging and moving the UK pensions to help offset the tax element.

A good financial adviser should not just tell you how much it costs but help you to understand the pros and cons in your individual circumstances, taking into account your retirement planning etc.

JPOC

The practice of cold-calling UK pension members is banned (in the UK) and as part of the due diligence process, all UK schemes will ask if you have received an unsolicited approach i.e. cold-call, Facebook ad, emails, texts, etc. So next time you get cold-called, you could ask them for their regulatory status and tell them you're going to lodge a complaint with their regulator. That should stop the calls.

In order to protect yourself and ensure full protection as a consumer regarding any advice you receive, I would suggest the following:

check the financial adviser register here, just enter the name of the individual adviser in the search box. Check the principal place of business to see where the adviser is actually located, some registered advisers are located in the middle east or Asia, so best to satisfy yourself you're comfortable with all aspects of anyone you're going to engage for financial advice.

Ask them for a copy of their financial service guide (FSG) and ask for a supplementary FSG or adviser profile to establish their qualifications, the services they're licensed to provide, and the type/range of fees they charge.

Google reviews can be helpful, though positive reviews on trust pilot (IMO) are solicited so read between the lines. May be worth googling something like UK pension transfers Australia or Australian QROPS and reviewing the websites and google review.

Regarding cost, I have been providing UK pension transfer advice for many years and can only assure you the cost, time, skill, and benefits of being protected by local regulators have been increasing for years. Many clients I could justify engaging in the past are just no longer economical.

Finally, while it may seem like a good idea to transfer pensions from UK to Australia, it could be the case that you'd better off leaving them in the UK, depending on your circumstances and the type of pensions involved, hence why it's important to get professional advice. It may also be more appropriate to transfer one type of pension, but not another. It all boils down to objectives, circumstances etc.

Good luck with it.

sunburn

Thanks for the tips!

durhamlad

We were already retired and receiving our state pensions and some private pensions when we moved to Oz. Basically there are two ways of doing things.

Keep a UK bank account and have all the pensions paid into it and when the exchange rate is in your favour use a FX company and transfer it over yourself.

The other option is to tell each UK pension provider your Oz bank account details and they send it directly into your Oz account.
Downside is you have to accept the exchange rate on the day it is sent and each pension providers charges which can be considerable if you have a number of pensions.

One thing you are supposed to do is keep a record when every payment is made and the exchange rate on that day and how much it is in Oz $ then add it up and report it to the ATO and you are taxed on it. Even if you receive the Oz pension on top of your UK pensions it is taxed as well.

rammygirl

You can also just use the average rate of exchange for the year as per ATO website. Easier that way. Also if you don’t want pension taxed in Uk you have to fill in a form to send to ATO who forward it to HMRC to alter your tax code. Takes a while!
The income counts for tax when you get it regardless of when it arrives in Australia.