Mandy&Cliff

Hi Paul, I am currently with AustralianSuper, also have a small amount with Sunsuper which I am awaiting to roll into one, they are both QROPS, check them out on the internet.

THESHARMANS

Cliff,

Was it fairly straight forward to transfer your money into the shemes from the UK ? I am aware that you have to do it within 6 months to avoid being taxed.

Mandy&Cliff

Please dont get yourself caught up in the 6 month thingy, yes you are right that if you transfer within 6 months of becoming a OZ tax resident there is no tax, but considering the slow cogs of the UK Police pension funds it may take beyond the 6 months. The 15% tax that you have read about is only on the growth that your pension made from the time of leaving and the time you become an OZ tax resident. i.e pension of UK 100,000 grows to 102,000 in 12 months then you will be losing 15% of the 2000 = a loss of 300, so as you can see in the big scheme of things it is not a lot to lose. The above figures are just an example. Have a search on the expats site for posts by an Alan COLLETT he is very much on the ball re this and very helpful if you PM him.
I would suggest contacting your pension scheme and at least applying for a pay out figure (certificate) so that when you do arrive you have the figures to give to your chosen super fund, I applied about 2 months and I am still waiting.
Dont take any nonsense about not giving you a certificate or that you can not take your pension out of the UK.
Cliff

johnscone

Hi all, especially Benjy & 4Breezers

I am an ex Northumbria Cop working in Abbotsford BC (for my sins) since March 2006.

My 12.5 years of pension is still sitting somewhere in the UK & as yet I have done nothing with it.

I would like to know if the options you describe are applicable to anywhere in Canada & would appreciate the details you mentioned.

My aim is to retire in around 12-15 yrs as I would have done in Britain & then maybe become a green keeper or something fairly mindless like that!!

I would really appreciate any & all the help anyone can offer

Cheers

Johnscone P.S. Scotland 3 v Italy 0 .... you have to have a dream..

martintaylor1547

i'm in the process of moving to calgary and plan to bring my pension over with me to put into private schemes over there. If you leave it in the uk it cant be touched til your 65 and its not index linked so the real value goes down each year. I'm using a firm in calgary if you want their details pm me and I will forward it too you

cheers

martin

rodders5

Hi all,

I am a total monetary doofus!! (do those words even exist??) I have read all posts and is there anyone who can put pro's and con's in simple terms of whether to cash in or leave alone pension???
I have 10 years pension and partner has about 20 years.
Any places we can go and get adviec would be greatly received also!

Again being total doomer.....(shut it!) if cashing in would it not be best to invest money in house therefore no mortgage or will it grow better in other forms?

Thank you!!!!

Helen Parnell

Ok so I had about 15 years service, brought it over 5 years ago and it has grown and is now about $100,000 more than it was.

A friend with same sort of service and kept it in the uk. and he was boasting at the christmas party that it has grown $40,000.

Now I know there is a year difference, and I am no mathician but ours has grown more than his. Now he can not get his till he is 60 or something and we will be spending ours when we are 55,

Money and time talks...... more money when I am younger means retire early.

ann m

Pros & Cons - very simplified version of some info I've gleaned - and in no way constitutes financial advice !!! In no particular order ...

Once you stop contributing, your UK pension pot will almost freeze, and will likely only have possible growth in the region of 1-2%.

If you bring over your UK pension and put it into new investment(s) in Canada - you would anticipate a reasonable growth - hopefully considerably more than 1-2%. And I guess I'm talking 4-10% depending on how risk tolerant or risk-adverse you are. You can bring it over tax free. As far as I understand, the funds must be placed in specific approved schemes - not just tucked into your savings account.

You can collect your UK police pension at 60.

You can access your Canadian pension from 50.

If you die before your spouse, your UK widow(er)'s pension is reduced.

If you die before your spouse, your Canadian pension's entire sum is rolled over tax free to your widow(er)

When your spouse dies, all UK pension payments end - and any remaining funds go back into the 'big' pension pot.

When your spouse dies, the (Canadian) remaining funds are distributed to your beneficiaries.

If your money is transferred over to Canada, the government allow you access to withdraw up to $20,000 to use to purchase your first home (with certain qualifications).

If you stay in the UK, and continue contributing to your UK police pension, it is a very good one! It is index linked - and you get the lump sum at the end ....

If you start paying into (for example) the Calgary Pension Scheme, this is not index linked - and there is no lump sum at the end. (And contributions are not dissimilar at 10.1%).

If you bring your UK police pension over to Canada, make sure you are staying and want to grow old here ! Do not move the funds twice.

I can forward details of some consultants who can handle the transfer for you, if you are interested. They came to CPS at the end of October to give a seminar. We know of people of have used them quite happily and successfully. It is not the kind of thing you can do alone.

We have not yet decided whether to bring our pensions over!

rodders5

Thanks yet again for all wise words!!!

How long do you have to decide if want to bring it over?? I take it you have frozen it in UK or are you still paying into it??

Anyone been there and done it already??? your thought would be gladly received!!

Ann can you send me those details and will have a look into it.

ann m

Hi rodders

I don't believe there is a time limit to bringing over your police pension. However, bear in mind it might physically take months to complete the transaction. First you have to write to your police pension dept and ask for a statement and final figure. They ignore you for a while, then you write again, and probably at least one more time to make them accept that you might actually be serious. Think "blood out of a stone". You'd think it was their own personal money . Then the guy at the Canadian end can get cracking, and that could take a few more months in total. And in the meantime you sit and hope the exchange rate goes up in your favour.

Once you come out of your police pension, it freezes and there are no more contributions (presuming you have resigned, and not just wangled a career break). So whatever size that pot is, it pretty much stays that way, give or take the odd 1% of growth.

Now the state pension is a whole other debate - I'm useless at adding links but there have a been a couple of really long threads on this issue on the Canada section in the past few months. Basically, your state pension freezes aswell and it is also not index linked (for those who choose to move to Canada among a few exempt countries). So your £85 a week or £120 per week or whatever it is by then, will stay that way forever. (Go to Spain or many other countries, and it will go up annually). The fairness, or not, of this law is subject to petitions and protests.

I can put you in touch with at least one officer who has brought their pension over - and I'll PM you the details of the consultants you may wish to speak to in more detail.

Hope that helps.

Helen Parnell

Anyone been there and done it already??? your thought would be gladly received!!



Yes been there, done it, got the t shirt and will be retiring when I am 55.

There are more rules now from 5 years ago, but the biggest thing is to make sure that they are registered. A lot of financial advisors say they are regisitered to bring uk pensions over but not all of them are.

Just ask lots of questions and make sure they know what they are doing. I do not know the list that Ann M has got, but I can personally vouch for the guy we used. I know he is making me a lot of money and he personally arranged it all for us. I will pm you with his details.

Helen

Dr Spock

Although not a police officer [use to be in the met but went into nursing].I have been offered a job in Delta BC and have found this thread useful as I am looking into transfering my NHS pension.

About the UK state pension. I believe you can continue paying into so that when you reach 65, your pension will be the same as those in the UK but won't increase thereafter! Correct me if i'm wrong!

ann m

Hi - You are correct - with a proviso. You can continue to make contributions into the UK state system. As far as I understand it, whether this is worthwhile perhaps depends on how long you have already been paying in. You need to contact the relevant people and ask them for a forecast, and costs to keep it going, and whether it is worthwhile. I think the longer you have been paying in already, the more it is worth considering continuing the contributions ....

couple of links - but I couldn't actually find what I was looking for !!!!

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/ipc/home.asp

and cut and pasted from another thread

" You can continue to make voluntary contributions for several years after you move to Canada (insert NZ/Oz and others) - but this is only worthwhile if it moves you up a level. You would want to make sure you qualify for a 1/2 pension. It may not be worth paying all the extra years to earn a 3/4 one.

The UK Government will pay your pension even if you are in Canada. It will be based on whatever the prevailing state pension rate is when you turn 65. The bad news for ex-pats is that we are not eligible for yearly increases that pensioners in the UK get. If a half pension is 40 pounds a week on the day you retire, you'll get 40 pounds a week till the day you turn your toes up. "

and if you have the energy, plough through this thread ....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458007

Regards ....

Helen Parnell

To add to anns answer you may want to consider the other two factors:

The UK pension is not really going to be worth a lot unless you are going to be collecting it very soon, Like ann said if you are going to move up a level it may be worth it, but from what I am getting told the UK Goverment pension is not going to worth anything to most of us,

Then assuming you are going to pay it, you are then also going to have to pay the Canadian state pension. which again is really not going to be worth a lot when we get old enough to claim it.

So you are paying into two goverment state pensions which with all the baby boomers and less younger worker force is not going to be worth a lot. You may be wise to speak to a financial person and see if there is a better way to invest your money.

adeelakhan

Please could you provide me with contact details of Pension company in canada that will assist in the transfer of my frozen UK Police pension. I want to cash it in and invest the cash sum. I would appreciate any assistance here from you or friends.

many thanks regards Adeela