QROPS OVERSEAS UK PENSION TRANSFERS
'FROZEN' UK PENSIONS, SIPP TRANSFERS
You've left the UK. (or thinking about it soon)
Why leave your pensions behind? USE THEM !
I transferred mine. What about you? Don't leave them dormant !
You could MAKE MUCH BETTER USE of this hidden asset you have. If you have left the UK, think about
transferring your pension schemes overseas. Even if you just intend to leave the UK in the near future. You could use them for a variety of reasons and earn a lot more money! Examples are Property ( commercial and residential ) shares and yachts etc. All can produce income for you. I will try to keep it short and sweet. There are lots of other websites with loads more info ( just google QROPS) but HERE IS WHAT I DID.
When I left the UK to live in the Channel Islands and subsequently Monaco, I wanted to transfer my pension out of the UK system as well, but there was no means to do so until QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes) became available from April 2006. I had a commercial property, some UK and foreign shares and an insurance fund in my SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension). In certain circumstances a SIPP may be better for you. Give me a call and tell me your situation and I can give you an opinion on it. Sorry about the jargon but that's the pension industry for you.
SO WHY TRANSFER?
The
ADVANTAGES of this transfer is
NO Capital Gains Tax, NO Inheritance Tax and
NO With-holding Tax (depending on QROP location). Once transferred to a QROP, your pension fund is not forced to buy an annuity at age 75 like if it was still in the UK. Also, when you 'sail over the horizon', any unused pension fund and any
pension trust assets pass straight to your family without any government taking up to 82%of it in tax (depending on QROP location). It also minimises the chances of future UK governments interfering with your fund by changing the rules on pension funds still in the UK. For example they might possibly abolish
the right to take 25% cash out tax-free in the future (currently from age 50, rising to age 55 from April 2010), or keep raising the retirement age or whatever else they mght think of to raise money from
YOUR savings. It's also a good opportunity to consolidate all your pension funds into the one QROP pot, including your spouses. That all sounded pretty reasonable to me.
We left the UK for a better quality of life didn't we? That includes your pension yes?
You can transfer an old pension which is in an insurance company fund
. If you have a property or shares in your fund you can transfer these 'in specie' (without selling them). You can also transfer a pension that you are receiving payments from, e.g. a pension 'drawdown' from an insurance company. Since October 2008 you can transfer Protected Rights. If you're going to transfer any old 'defined-benefit' pension schemes ( getting rarer now, as
some 'frozen' ones may be only increasing by 2 1/2% p.a. RPI ) you will need to get Independent Financial Advice to check what guaranteed benefits you might be giving up. You can transfer an old defined-contribution company pension scheme (
the vast majority ) without any problems. Give me a call about your situation and I can usually help you with what type of old scheme you have.
The funds assets ideally need to be a
minimum of £70,000 for a QROP (or £30,000 for a SIPP) and anything currently over a total of £1,750,000 (in 2009-2010 tax year) will trigger a Benefit Crystallisation Event (there's that jargon again) so if it's over that you will need to get Independent Financial Advice. Not from me, I'm retired now; I can give you an opinion, but I can't give you advice.
If your funds are less than that, fear not, you can always add to it from personal funds so as to use them.
However,
if you want FACTS (and the jargon explained) read the Inland Revenue website 'Registered Pension Scheme Manual, Technical Pages, Chapter 14. It's where the Advisers go to get there facts from (or should do),
from the horses mouth so to speak. Surprisingly, its not too difficult. They are a little bit buried and hard to find but here is where to look! Some KEY pages are;
for Manual Index
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/rpsmmanual/rpsm14101000.htm
for QROP explanation
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/rpsmmanual/rpsm14101050.htm
for Tax position
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/rpsmmanual/rpsm14101060.htm
for 5 Yr reporting rules
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/rpsmmanual/rpsm14101070.htm
Having an independent streak, I
like to be in charge of my own savings rather than rely on other people.
You can generally earn yourself more money this way. A QROP allows you to do be in charge with the
added bonus of increased investment freedom especially after you've left the UK for 5 full tax years. In my case
I wanted to use part of my pension fund for residential property in France. When I looked who the QROP providers are, there are at least 30 countries to choose from who can do the admin. Don't forget to allow for time-zones and languages though when sifting through the list.
For a list of these see Inland Revenue website:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/qrops.pdf
In my opinion, for reasons outlined in paragraphs above, at present,
the best location is Guernsey. I DID A LOT OF RESEARCH ! Remember that's just where the funds legally reside, NOT where they are invested. QROP providers will normally only accept new business from Independent Financial Advisers, not individuals. When I looked into this possibility, either
advisers want up to 4-5 % commission and-or with annual commission OR they'll do it cheaper if they can 'advise' you where to invest your pension fund
(which generates additional annual commission or charges) on top of the QROP or SIPP providers charges. Do you know some offshore bonds pay advisers over 8% commission!
THAT'S A LOT OF COMMISSION DIRECT FROM YOUR POT ISN'T IT ?!!
I didn't really fancy that, so knowing where I wanted to invest it I thought 'why can't I
TRANSFER IT AT COST PRICE AND KEEP CONTROL of my investments WITHOUT unnecessary extra expense?
THERE MUST BE OTHERS WHO WANT THIS TOO, YES?
In a past life I was an Independent Financial Adviser from 1987 specialising in pensions. Later I became a director of a SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pensions) company and have got
20 + YEARS TRANSFER EXPERIENCE OF OVER 1,000 PENSION SCHEME TRANSFERS. I'm retired now but as a result of this experience, I have made arrangements with some QROP providers that as a trustworthy competent administrator, they will let me do the initial 'GRUNT WORK' for them i.e.
getting your funds transferred directly to your QROP in Guernsey. I never see your money, I don't give advice, I just do the paper-chase! After all, a big part of their Initial charges, is for this work involved in the initial fund transfers into your QROP.
In return
they will rebate their Initial fees proportionately, and pay me from this rebate. This means
you get the SAME COST-PRICE DEAL as if you could
GO DIRECT to a QROP provider. From 0.5% Initial setup fee (depends on fund size and complexity). You get the job done by someone who knows what to ask for. I get to earn a little pin money doing something I like, and you get a good deal for
a quality QROP that SAVES YOU A BUNDLE IN COMMISSIONS-HIDDEN CHARGES and FREES UP YOUR DORMANT CAPITAL !
I shuttle back and forth to and from the Channel Islands regularly. I try to meet everybody personally for mutual identity checks. You get the benefit of a personal service in France, Spain, Italy etc from someone who will concentrate solely on effecting the fund transfers
DIRECT to your QROP; NOTHING ELSE. I don't waste your time (or mine) trying to sell you some other stuff. I've got no interest or need to do that.
I am happy for you to accompany me to Guernsey if you like, to see the QROP Trust Company directors and staff and ask them any questions face to face.
Or you can ask them directly over the phone. Once your funds are transferred to your QROP, I give your file to the QROP trustees and my part is finished. I don't keep your details, I don't keep mailing lists or anything like that, so
your privacy is guaranteed. From that point on, you and-or your advisers / accountants / lawyers deal direct with the QROP trustees.
So, if you want to transfer your pensions to a great QROP like I did, at a great price, and SAVE YOURSELF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS IN COMMISSIONS AND HIDDEN CHARGES AND START USING YOUR OWN SAVINGS, please contact me, Peter Owens on;
0044-1481-832770 Channel Islands
0033-6808-66563 Monaco
Or email me your basic enquiry below Hope to hear from you soon!
