When investing for your golden years, you should make sure that everything is well prepared, because you definitely want to enjoy all the savings that you made when you were young. Therefore, if you have the plan to enjoy your retirement years in another country, it is important to make sure that your pension funds are internationally acknowledged. If you possess a UK pension scheme, you can make use of a QROPS pension transfer. A QROPS (Qualifying Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme) is a saving plan that suits HMRC’s specifications and retirement plan regulations for transferring and consolidating UK-registered pension plans. Before you switch to one, you should confirm that a foreign pension is the one you need. Here is how to make sure about it.
You Meet The Eligibility Requirements
Are you a resident of the UK who wants to move to another country to retire? Do you work in the UK and earn profits from the UK pension scheme? Have you saved retirement funds in a private pension plan in the UK? If you answer “Yes” to all questions above, you may take QROPS pension into your consideration.
Before you register for the QROPS pension, you should understand that there are many criteria that you should meet. If you are not qualified for those criteria, you might not be able to register for one. Here are the requirements that you should comply with.
- Overall investment worth a minimum of £50,000 in a UK privately administered pension plan. Keep in mind that it is different from the government pension scheme.
- You are planning to move abroad.
- You are not heading back to the United Kingdom again in the next five-to-ten-year period.
- You haven’t bought an annuity yet.
- Your workplace pension scheme is not in the drawdown.
- UK Budget 2017 Changes – There were also several adjustments for QROPS, especially for expatriates in countries outside the EEA, where a Worldwide SIPP seems to be the ideal solution.
If you are certain that you meet those qualifications, then transferring to an overseas pension is recommended for you.
You Want to Reap the Benefits from The QROPS Transfer
QROPS transfer offers many advantages to the users. The followings are the benefits you can get from QROPS.
- QROPS’s worth that exceeds the current UK Lifetime Allowance Charge (£ 1,073,100) is excluded from the allowance tax charge.
- You can save your funds from UK Inheritance Tax because moving to a QROPS removes your retirement savings from UK regulations and authority.
- Since it is out of UK regulations, you are open to more investment choices.
- It enables you to easily and quickly let your inheritors have the remaining funds from your account.
Those are some facts about QROPS that can help you identify whether an overseas retirement scheme is the best option for you. If you are confident to retire abroad and move your pension funds to QROPS, you can reach a pension transfer specialist for further assistance to make sure that everything is well-settled.