Savings important to expats on frozen pensions
Although having solid expat regular savings is important no matter what the financial climate, it is good to see that recent efforts by campaigners to end the freeze on state pensions currently endured by more than half a million retired expats abroad may be gaining momentum.
As it stands around 550,000 retired Brits abroad have to rely on their expat regular savings to top up a state pension which was frozen at £67.50 a week; nearly a full £40 less than the sum received by other pensioners.
The unfairness of their situation is compounded by the fact that the Government has struck individual deals with certain nations ensuring the full, unfrozen pension, but has left the expat residents of another 150 countries stuck with the year 2000-level pension.
Don’t delay… Pension/Future Savings for Expat workers Paris or elsewhere…
For many, the stresses and demands of work often leaves little time to consider your personal affairs and it is easy to put things on the back burner. International jobs whilst often paying “top dollar” can be transient in the regard that you may be in Paris this year and New York the next. Compound this with changes of employers and local pension regimes (if there is one) and one can quickly find that retirement provision is fragmented and very soon not in line with current earnings or expectations for your exit from business and eventual retirement.
QROPS pensions transfer rules debate
A survey by Old Mutual Wealth has found that 38% of international financial asset management professionals would like a review of the new QROPS pension transfer scheme rules. Only 20% said they were happy with the new rules, while 40% described themselves as "unsure".
As part of rules introduced in April 2015 those undertaking QROPS pension transfers should receive independent and impartial advice from a professional appropriately authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Private Pension – Options Explained by Keith Littlewood, International Financial Adviser Costa Blanca
Many people have pension pots just sitting, not really doing anything, but at every stage in life it is very important that you should keep track of your retirement provision.
If you are in your 30s or 40s look closely to what provision you have and what you might need in the future. State Benefits are not going to kick in for you until you are 67.
If you are in your 50s then this is a very critical period. One bad investment year can affect the income you receive for the rest of your life, so make sure you are looking at setting your investments up in a balanced way so that no unforeseen disasters can hurt you – this is called ‘Life Styling your Pension Pot’.
What happens if you have no pension left?
Many of you will have read the articles extolling the virtues of the new pension freedoms introduced last April. Indeed, the new freedoms are good in that they don’t mean that pensioners are forced into poor value for money annuity schemes. For some though, the temptation to spend, spend, spend, will be too much and what happens to them?
Type of Pensions – Jargon Buster by Laura Mann Regional Manager Canary Islands
As you already know there are a substantial number of pension types available. How we came to have them, or what they actually are, still remains a mystery to many of us since these were thrust upon us (to some extent) by well meaning employers way back when. This week we´re going to bust the Pension Jargon for the types of Pensions available.
Cash Balance Pension
A Cash Balance Pension is a pension arrangement, where your employer promises you a pension pot of a specified amount, when you reach retirement age. Typically, the amount is calculated as a proportion of your salary for each year of service. You know how much your pot will be, but there is no promise as to the amount of pension you will be able to buy (or take) from it.
What have you done with your pension money?
If you are thinking of cashing in your UK pension or have already done so, what will you be doing with the money?
An in-depth independent survey of Royal London customer behavior reveals a significant number of people, over 26%, have or plan to leave their pension savings languishing in low interest rate bank accounts. This means people run the risk of running out of money too soon and seeing their money dwindle away through poor rates of return.
Pensions Update – by Laura Mann, Regional Manager Canary Islands
Still wondering whether to leave your pension in the UK, or move it so that you benefit tax wise as an ex-pat? Here´s the latest update on what´s happening in the pensions world.
UK:
If you Pension Fund is still held within the UK, since April 2015 most, but not all, Pension Providers have introduced flexibility, in terms of access to Pension Funds within the UK and this is certainly proving to be very popular with many. Depending on the size of your pot you may be able to access all tax free, or alternatively access 25% tax free at the age of 55 years.