Hi all,

Wife and I shall be moving to Canada from Glasgow within the year and are a bit overwhelmed about what to do regarding our UK pensions etc. We are also not sure whether to go ahead and sell the house or rent it out for a while. Does anyone have any experiences they can share with us??

Cheers

Colin & Laura

Hi Colin and Laura,

You'll never get a definitive reply to your question as there are too many variables - how risk averse are you? how much spare capital do you have? is there any chance you might want to move back to the UK in the future? etc etc.

I'll share with you what we did, but suspect you might think it was a risky strategy (and you'd be correct )

We visited BC and found a location and business we were interested in.

Returned to the UK, submitted an application for PR, sold our house and resigned from jobs (took 3mths).

Purchased property/business in Kamloops and shipped out all our posessions.

Came to Canada as tourists and set about getting the business and property into shape. Applied for work visas.

3yr work visas issued after we'd been in BC for 3mths.

Now, 18mths on from arrival, we're waiting for PR (2yrs since application was accepted).

If you've enough money to keep your house in the UK, and set up home here too, then perhaps that keeps a foot in both countries whilst you settle in here and decide if it's going to work out for you in Canada (look into the tax implications though).

Will you have a job to come to in Canada? How much security/$ will you have to live on when you arrive? - will it last long enough for you to gain employment and a steady income?

Only you can answer those questions and feel comfortable with selling up and making a new life, or being more cautious about it.

Thanks for quick reply Rich

I'm just curious to know other peoples experiences.Our strategy is very risky also as we are planning selling everything and moving with no job offers.I'm a qualified tradesman but willing to try anything.Just out of interest,i thought you had to become a Canadian Citizen to own a business?

Colin and Laura

No, you can own a business without being a citizen. We gambled that our investment and business plan was acceptable to immigration - if they'd said no we'd have had some interesting decisions to make!

If I read your other posts correctly you are coming over as SW not on a work permit? My advice is that IF you can afford to retain the house in UK for a while/permanently and still buy (or are happy to rent here) then it's worth doing so. Property inflation in UK is likely to continue to be stronger than in NS so as an investment it's not a bad thing. Pragmatically it also gives you more opportunity to go back if things don't work out.

In hindsight, this is what I would have done. However there is also the point of view that by selling up and making the big move you have to make it work here so are more committed and thus more likely to be successful. At the end of the day you have to make the choice that you are comfortable with.

Regarding pensions, do a search as there have been a number of threads on this lately. Assuming you have an occupational scheme from a UK employer there are now options to move it over into RRSP schemes here without a tax hit. However, the option of leaving in UK and simply drawing it at the appropriate point (& converting the monthly income to $) is also to be considered.

HTH,
AX

I think you should consider the capital gains issue with respect to your current UK house and work out how much capital gain you are sitting on. UK give you 3 years for free, Canada give you one. If you definately plan to return to UK then keeping house would be a good thing (and if you have been aborad to work then UK forgets you ever went) - but if you plan to sell it in a couple of years - that could be costly from a capital gains point of view. Its quite complex though and it really depends how long you have lived in it, who exactly owns it, the chances of coming back etc etc

Gryphea

Cheers Guys

It's good to hear other peoples thoughts.

Colin and Laura

Colin fellow Glaswegian

We are in the process of moving our pensions over just now, my civil service pension and the wifeys bank pension.

Legislation changed in April 06 regarding moving occupational pension sover from the UK to Canada. The Inland Revenue made it a bit more stricter to move pensions over but it can be done

You are allowed under Canadian tax law to open up an RRSP and make a one time contribution to it, tax free, from a foreign pension plan.

The process takes months but can be done.

Eddie

Thanks Eddie

That is exactly what i was wanting to hear.Hope everything is going well for you and yer wifey.

Kind Regards Colin

Hello from another "Weegie"

We sold up everything we could and just froze our pensions back home. (I had a local government pension and hubby had a teachers pension.)

That way we had to really make a go of it. For us that has been the best option - hubby would have gone home by now if we still had a house in the UK! Whereas now we have just bought our first Canadian home and it may not be huge place but compared to home - well we couldn't afford it in the UK but can afford it here.

Also consider the money you make from selling your house will pay a huge proportion of a house when you relocate. (Try looking at the "mls.ca" website and get a feel for the property market and see just how far your money will take you.)

As for the RSP's - they are a good idea here but as we have only been here for 8 months, I am still keeping all of my options open! (You can lower your tax bill by putting money into the RSP - and then use that saving and put it against your mortgage - a good idea for future reference. )

Good luck!

Fellow scott here

You will do what best suits your needs.
But our story is that. In Scotland we still own oor wee but'n'ben.
Reason being. We are here on temp work permits. We always said that we would hold off till we had our PR.
Pensions are frozen for time being.

AOR Mar'05
Still nae word April'07

good luck with everything