bicster

Hi there,

I'm 34 and about to marry a Canadian this year. We plan to set up life in Canada so I'm thinking about what to do with my UK pension pot.

I built it up over 10 years of working in the UK so it's significant enough for me to care about, the question is - should I transfer it over here, keep in the UK or something else.

I obviously need to speak to a professional but I just wondered what others in a similar position had done.

Thanks,

Chris

bats

You mean your work pension presumably as you can't transfer a state pension.

Photoplex

The system to transfer your pension is called QROPS. I just transferred mine over, after being here for 6 years. I wanted to wait and see if I would stay here long term before pulling the trigger on the pension transfer.

I'd recommend you to do the same.

bicster

Yeah, personal work pension - not talking about the state one.

How difficult was the process? Have you converted GBP to CAD or left in GBP? How long did it take?

Photoplex

Read up about QROPS. It's a pain in the bum, but you keep chipping away until it's done. It's just frustrating getting the sending, and receiving institutes to interface. Also, only certain receiving institutions worldwide are QROPS accredited. Not many left in Canada - I used Scotia

It goes into a locked account that you're (supposed to) not touch till you retire. However, you can get at it after 10 years and move it into a different account type. It gets converted, although maybe you could find a GBP RRSP/LIRA). I don't see the point though.

mjwalker007

Hi Bicester,

This question has popped up many times over the years.

The best thing to do would be to view previous posts on this subject as this has been discussed many times before.

On the Thread forum page, on the right hand side, there is an icon to "search this forum" . Type in "UK pension transfer" or "QROPS" and this will provide a list of all the other threads over the years that have discussed this topic. This should hopefully give you the further information you are looking for.

MarkG

I found it surprisingly easy after all the pitfalls I'd read about; the hard part is finding someone in Canada who knows what they're doing to organize the transfer. Fortunately the lady I dealt with at our Scotiabank was transferring about one a month, so she had plenty of experience over the last few years.

My suggestion would be to talk to a few people and. if you say 'QROPS' and they say 'what's that?'. go somewhere else .

BTJ

Remember that the recent Budget announcement means that an annuity no longer needs to be purchased using your fund, therefore simply leaving it invested in the UK and then accessing in your late 50s may be preferable.

MarkG

Yeah, but the rules can change any number of times between now and then.

BTJ

Whilst that is true, the British government could also change the rules of QROPS. Now that the flexible drawdown option is out the bag I highly doubt it will be going back in, especially as it is the international norm to allow free access to savings in retirement.

MarkG

Yes. Which is another reason to get the money out while we can.

Calgaryscot

I just transferred one of my pensions over and the advisor here informed me that I won't get an RRSP tax receipt :-( Was this the same for you guys that have already transferred money over??

Photoplex

Same - it's considered as a transfer - as in funds already contributed. It's not considered a net new contribution leading to a tax rebate/offset.

Calgaryscot

Thanks, it's a bummer though as it was a non contributory pension so I didn't think that I would have received any tax break/benefit in the UK

BTJ

Except that your employer contributed directly to the fund without paying income tax, so you DID receive relief in that way.