Pension transfer can be complex

[Carol]

I wish I understood all of this....

[Moorf]

I got to line 2, word 8 and then handed the laptop to Woz to translate!

I don't do money stuff.... but thanks for the info GeorgeM et al, very interesting reading and something we only found out about from one of Jocalla's friends last weekend.

[Avalon]

Why not leave the pension in the UK ,then when it matures the income will be converted every month into NZ dollars, that way you benefit from the conversion over a longer period of time and not do it in one hit. Just a thought. Mine is staying in the UK.

Steve.

Becasue tuppence a month income from my poxy pension is still going to be 6c a month income here!

Whereas £4000 in cash now, can be paid off my mortgage saving me lots and lots of money over the next 20 years

Also, Mr Brown has already stolen £5bn (?) from everyones pension pots. I dont want to give him the opportunity to nick any more of my money. When I started my pension - it was a good idea, but now, well - whow many people in the UK are going to be on the breadline in retirement because of the mess the UK pensions are in.

Persoanlly - im working on other avenues to create a retirement income, which dont have the risks and disadvantages of a UK pension, and they wont be at the mercy of another tax grab by the UK government. Not that its easy trying to stay one step ahead of the tax system!

For me its just not worth keeping the pension going. Im not paying in to it, so it wont grow anyway - and now id rather invest directly while using the money that would go into a pension fund to get my mortgage off my back, and create a passive income through other means.

I guess it depends on your personal commitmenst, likes and dislikes, size of pension pots, and a host of other considerations. Those are just mine

[Tia Maria]

Avalon - Did you find out how much does it cost to transfer 'titchy' pensions? We have one that will be about £1500, and I wandered if it will get eaten up by flat fee transfer costs, or whether they tend to charge a percentage?

Michelle - Is it free to transfer via the bank or is there a catch?

Just realised we are going in about 9 weeks and I'd better start sorting things out!

[Michelle and Richard]

Yes its free and we repeatedly asked the questions. We are only doing a couple of small ones leaving our main ones until we know we are definitely staying here.

Michelle

[adamsat]

My UK pension was a final salary scheme, linked to inflation. It's currently worth half my UK salary (and will increase in-line with inflation) but It doesn't start paying out until I hit 60. I'm not sure what my options would be - leave it in the UK seems the easy option but I'm not sure it's the best?

[jubjub]

Thanks Michelle, I have just called ASB and they are going to have a look at my two teeny weeny pensions...

[Avalon]

Tia Maria,

Sorry Ive only just seen this! My brother is taking up all the email time trying to do our family tree and I just cant get on here!

Most pension transfer companies charge by % of total brought over. Often Its 5%, so you do need to look at it. We went with Brittania to get the info, and they do charge 5%, or $500 whichever is greater. So for these small pots - you are looking at 500.

In our case, they decided to charge me 5% of the total pot (which was less than $500) because OH was looking to transfer, so they were going to get a decent fee for that. Of course - Ic ant do it yet as im unemployed.

In your case - id say the banks might be better if they are free. Once ive got my employment options sorted - im certainly going to chat to ASB.

For me - Id happily have paid $500 to get the money - because it still gives me a few thousand $$$$ which is more use now, than in 20 years time.

I hope that helps.

[Avalon]

Ive just spoken to a really nice pension advisor at the ASB, and theres a little problem which I thought I should share.

Although ASB will do the transfer for free - they lock ALL the money away till you are 50! That means you cant access ANY of the money (49% for pots over $20k or 100% for pots under $20k) now.

So this works if you want to carry on your pension in New Zealand - but not if, like me, you want to get your sticky mitts on the cash.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news - looks like Britannia is the way to go for me.

[Avalon]

Just updated as this came up on another thread.

We have had 2 cheques sent over from the UK out of 3 pensions we are transferring.

We went with britannia - so the cheques are sent directly to them. They then pay them into thier trust account and sit on the money for about a month (Until they "clear" ).

During this time we should be sent paperwork to sign to release the funds we want to, and to assign any money we are keeing in a pension into a fund.

Britannia used to allow selection of funds and actively manage the investments (I beleive the pensions are via ING) but now they are "so terribly busy" they cant be bothered - so you have very few options on how your money is invested.

Anyway - about mid april - the moeny should come rolling into my bank account