QROPS Spain
Retiring to Spain has become increasingly popular for many Britons today and figures show that there are around 70,000 people taking their pension in Spain compared to 26,700 a decade ago. It is very wise to give some serious thought to the financial implications on receiving your pension in Spain and setting up your finances carefully could save you a considerable amount of money and provide you with a wide variety of benefits.
Qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes or QROPS as they are now known have become very popular in Spain and the current economic turmoil has made the option to transfer your pension into a QROPS more popular than ever. Why you may ask? Well, apart from the many benefits to be gained by transferring your pension into a QROPS, this is mainly due to the first time in years that we have been exposed to such massive currency swings and non Spanish, non Euro funded pensioners living in Spain are really feeling the pinch right now.
As an example, it wasn’t that long ago that £1 gave you €1.50, now you will only get €1.10 and the rising cost of living in Spain has probably eroded the .10c as well! If on the other hand you had moved your pension into a Euro based QROPS then the currency element would not have affected you.
UK pensions have previously remained under UK rules, even for people who have retired to Spain. However, due to new legislation in the UK that was introduced in April 2006, it is now possible for expatriates to export their pension fund out of the UK into a QROPS and avoid the various restrictions and taxes that the UK imposes on how you take your pension benefits
Transferring your pension out of the UK into a QROPS and avoiding these restrictions will help you greatly in improving your retirement years in Spain. It will also mean that you can leave your heirs a larger inheritance should you wish to, which is just one of the major benefits.
For further information on QROPS transfers and for a qualified QROPS adviser to contact you, simply fill in your details in the contact a QROPS adviser page to receive free QROPS advice.
