I thought so until asking the question "what happens to my money tied up in my UK private pension when I die ?" The answer was not what I expected, and i didn't like it one bit - so for me it was worth transferring the fund and paying the tax.

I had assumed that the whole balance would be available for my family - how wrong I was. Now it's in Australia I know that my family will get it, and not money grabbing insurance companies and government departments.

Don't assume anything.

I didn't assume anything. That's why my previous post has a big '?' at the end of it.

The above highlights the tax side of things but to make it clear: Currently if you draw down a pension as an annuity you pay tax on it and and income of such is declarable in OZ.

If you transfer to OZ then any pension over aged 60 generally is tax free including any earnings on it.

tax is payable on the earnings of the fund from the date of arrival to time of transfer - ie if fund is worth 10 k on date of arrival and then 11 K at time of transfer then you pay tax on the 1 K only - the earnings - not the total 11 K. You pay the tax within super at 15% or you can pay the tax through your personal tax at your marginal rates.

In relation to tax on death in the Uk the current death taxes for pensions is 55% however it is proposed to reduce this to 40 % in April 2015.

Everyone's situation is different however there can be considerable tax advantages for some in transferring funds as well as negating the UK death Taxes.

I hope the above helps Cheers

Good work ! Ask your pension fund what happens to the money if you die, it depends on what type of pension you have of course. With mine they would give a very small annuity to my partner and what the tax man didn't take they would keep for themselves. My missus would have ended up with less than 10% of the balance in total had she lived until 90 and the rest - gone ! Thieves.

I need to check on mine. I haven't kept an eye on it. Its not a large amount. I wonder if its losing money. If so I could offset again the loss if I brought over. Though the FX rate change in the last 3 years might negate that.