Mitzyboy

So whats the best way of transferring pensions on a regular monthly basis without incurring too many charges?

Thats £ to €

ScotsExpat

My company pays me in sterling into a UK bank account, while they have me living in Dubai... (no, I dont understand either!!!)

I need to arrange a regular monthly transfer from GBP to AED, as quickly and as cheaply possible....

meauxna

Can you arrange direct deposit to your foreign account?
That's working out well for us.

Mitzyboy

Yes I can, but of course I incur transfer charges from the UK bank of £25 a time. I have a sun-pay account but that costs me €10 a time. Currencies direct promised free d/d transfers but then gave me really bad rates of exchange. So I was interested in the HIFX angle.

I hoped that someone from HIFX might have an answer to my post of some 10 hours ago

fatbrit

Try XeTrade -- that's where the consensus seems to lie for us Land o' the Free residents. You've got bacs in from your UK account (usually no charge) -- but no idea what you'd use to pull it in to a Spanish account. Into a US account, it's eft whcih is also free. http://www.xe.com/fx/

And if HIFX wake up, perhaps they could explain how they're better with real comparisons.

The Bloke

The OH uses www.tranzfers.com to move money to Australia, that costs £7. Do they do Spain as well, perhaps you could look at them?

Mitzyboy

Thanks
I will take a look.
Seems the HIFX advice is a little slow in coming

malcoltom

My pension is paid through the Royal Bank of Scotland and they tell me that i will be charged £3.75 per month for paying it directly into a NZ bank account rather than into my UK one.

djoerk

They are all rip-off merchants.... UK Annuity Providers also charge to move your Pension abroad circa £5 per pop - for a clerkess to press a button!

I have a Private Pension which now has to be made into an Annuity: I have not done this yet>>

Advice and Suggestions as to the best way to take this Pension Offshore or other alternatives - would be very helpful. Somehow the IFAs in UK do not seem to know much about - or probably do not want to know about it!

HSBC Premier is OK about transferring funds - once you have a UK based Pension e.g State or Other already matured Exchange Brokers seem to want ££££££ss to make it worthwhile.

Windsor2

Apologies Mitzyboy, I have just got back into the office.

The easiest, and most cost effective way of sending any regular amounts abroad is via a Regular Payment Plan. This can be used for pension transfers, paying overseas mortgages or simply paying bills/topping up bank accounts.

You fix a rate of exchange for anything from 6 months to 2 years with a small deposit (if, for example, it is for a period of a year, we take one months payment as a deposit) and this then acts like a fixed rate mortgage. Whatever the rate does, you have peace of mind knowing that your payments will stay the same as you have fixed it for a particular term.

We then set up a direct debit every month and simply send it across to the destination account. There are no bank charges to pay, and as discussed you know exactly how many €'s you will be getting each month.

For pension transfers, we can arrange to take the funds directly from the pension company, although many people will leave a bank account open in the UK and we will simply take the DD from there.

I hope this helps, but should you have any further questions please dont hesitate to ask.

Cheers,

Richard.

The Bloke

It maybe a figment of our imagination.

Mitzyboy

So its probably not a good idea to take this option at the moment then Richard, as we're all living in hope that the r/ex will recover a little before the end of the year.

Windsor2

Unfortunately that's the gamble you take at the moment. The RPA method protects you against further weakening of the Pound, but if you are hoping the rate will pick up by the end of the year then it may not be the option for yourself.

It's very difficult to say where the rates are going - for the last 8 months the UK has been plagued with bad news after bad news, and the effects of the credit crunch have pushed Sterling down across the board. The € has been performing well (especially against the $US and the €/$ is a big driver of the forex market) and that is why we have seen the rates drop so much.

I am, however, an optimist and am confident Mr Brown will sort our country out! The best advice I can give is no matter when you decide to move your funds or lock into a rate, do the research and start following the rates as early as possible as it will make the decision a lot easier.

Fingers crossed....

Richard.

Bijilo123

is this not speculating on the curency?

Windsor2

Bijilo132,

No, it's not speculating as it is essentially a forward contract, where all the funds are bought up front. As a company we do not speculate with our clients funds, and in fact this is almost the opposite as it gives the client complete peace of mind knowing exactly how many Euros they will receive each month for a set amount of Sterling (with no extra charges).

It does work both ways, however, and should the rates move up then you are locked into the pre agreed rate, much like a fixed rate mortgage. The decision you therefore make is how much am i prepared to gamble, or what can i afford to lose?

I hope this answers the question.

Cheers,

Richard.