Expat Pensions
For expats living abroad in countries such as Spain, the possibility to transfer their UK pension into a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme or QROPS could not have come soon enough. The same applies to people who are currently in the process of planning on leaving the UK and becoming expats abroad.
If you fall into one of these 2 groups then it is very wise to give some serious thought to the financial implications on receiving your pension in Spain or any other country in the world. Setting up your finances carefully could save you a considerable amount of money and provide you with a wide variety of benefits.
A standard UK pension will only pay expat pensioners in Sterling, this means you run an exchange rate risk with regards to your pension income in addition to incurring charges to convert the pension payments to the currency of your choice. Transferring to a QROPS means that the pension payments will be made in your local currency and in turn eliminate currency exchange rate risk.
If you have a UK pension fund, the option of transferring the fund into a QROPS pension scheme becomes available to you as soon as you become a non UK resident. You can of course wait a couple of years or more after moving abroad to ensure that you see yourself remaining as an expat in a foreign country in the foreseeable future as a QROPS really is designed for expats living permanently abroad.
The real advantages of a QROPS pension scheme become applicable after the initial 5 year reporting period to HMRC which is compulsory for all approved QROPS. This 5 year rule means that during this period the QROPS will function as though it were still in a UK pension scheme and the 5 year rule begins as soon as the member becomes non resident of the UK and not from the time that the QROPS is set up.
By filling in your contact details on the contact a QROPS adviser page, a qualified QROPS adviser will be able to explain to you in full the process of transferring a UK pension overseas into a QROPS pension scheme. By using the free, no obligation advice of a financial adviser you will understand exactly what advantages your particular case could benefit from and ultimately discover if transferring your UK pension into a QROPS is the right choice for you to take.
