Hi. I'm looking for some advice on pension plans. I've got a pot built up in the UK which i'm planning to leave there and start a new pot here as I'm planning to stay.

Any advice would be much appreciated....

I, personally, would QROPS it so you can be in charge of 'where & how it is spent'.

Dont take this the wrong way snikpoh but from what I have seen on this subject on and off over the last year or so, it can be fraught with problems and is certainly not the answer for all people. You may be right, you may be wrong .... who knows

To the OP, you really need professional advice on this as there will be so many different opinions. Snikpoh will say Qrops, I will say property, someone else will say something else.

But as recent events show, we could have all been wrong so theres no easy answer. My daughter is talking about starting a pension right now ... I really dont know what to tell her other than I will probably end up being her pension, if I'm careful not to spend it all

Dont bring your money to Spain! For me I`d buy a UK or Gibraltar property and let it , theres nothing safer in my view

Hi Mitzy, no problem.

I actually agree with both you and Rotor but the issue is how to release the pension pot in the first place - only then can it be spent on property (which is what I would do).

To release the funds, probably the only way that I know of is QROPS. As you say, not for everyone but the associated fees have tumbled recently and you can certainly release 25% straight away and possibly all of it if you meet the tax criteria.

As said, seek professional advice

Problem with having your income sterling based, and living in another country with a different currency, is you lose out big time if your currency depreciates - as others on this forum have found out. Of course, if the pound were to gain in value... but none of us have a crystal ball...if we had, we'd have all bought Linked-In shares last week. Plus the outlook for property prices outside London is currently looking grim. Still, they're predicting Northern Rock will soon be back in private hands- do you like to gamble? I used to think oil company shares were the safest to go into, but I don't suppose shareholders in BP would agree now. IMO Mitzy's right - get professional advice, but hedge eg if the advice is to buy X, do so, but keep 10-20% invested elsewhere.

What about a SIPP?

Sound advice from Mitzy. QROPS is attractive for the jam today bread tomorrow people. Lured by the lump sum they take advice from dodgy British financial advisors in Spain. Their pension pot is sometimes invested in off-shore companies set up for the purpose...some have gone bust already. Charges are massive too.

The bottom line is that you have not given us anywhere near enough information for anyone to make a fair assessment in laymans's terms with regards to what or is not achievable here. To simply say that QROPS would be a good option for you to consider without knowing the correct details is both irresponsible and dangerous (SNIP)

Davey, is the Tumbit blog yours? I ask because out of 24 posts you have linked to it at least 12 times. A lot of the topic you have linked to are in free beer on this site. It's not a very good one either.

Didn`t this come up before about always promoting his site ?

I may have mentioned it...dunno. I have noticed it though. Funny how some get away with it

No, it's not .... I just hadnt picked up on it as I thought this was just a link. On further investigation I have realised who it is, and the site belongs to them.

Mmmm I must check back and see if you gave me a bollocking for mentioning it before.

Be very careful with any of these fancy UK tax efficient schemes such as SIPPs and ISAs.

The may have tax free benefits in the UK but if you are tax resident in Spain the rules may be completely different. ISAs are taxable in Spain and even the lump sum payment from a UK pension plan is taxable.

Even a UK premium bond win is taxable in Spain!