Pension Transfers to Australia
Pension Transfers to Australia from the UK and Overseas - The Fixed Price Alternative
If you have lived and worked overseas for a period of time, or are migrating to Australia, you are likely to have built up pension assets in one or more countries – with common examples being the UK, US, Canada, South Africa and Europe. The amounts of money can be significant and you should seek professional advice regarding your options. This is in terms of analysing whether the pensions should be transferred into Australia superannuation and in regard to the pension transfer process, which can be complicated and protracted.
Up until now, the business of transferring pension balances to Australia, mostly from the UK, has often been the province of firms charging both a base fee and a percentage of funds transferred – sometimes as high as 5% of funds. We have now decided to offer a real alternative – access to professional actuarial advice and management of the total transfer process for a total fixed fee of $1500 inclusive of GST for UK pension transfers. This offer covers any number of pension funds from up to two different pension providers. Compare our fees to those of firms who charge (just) 3.5% of the fund balance - their fees equate to $7000 at a transfer value of $200,000.
What is Included in Our Service
The service fee of $1500 comprises two parts. The first is a comprehensive Actuarial report which examines your overseas pension fund(s) and provides professional advice regarding the desirability, or otherwise, of transferring your funds to Australia. This is a significant financial decision and you should not always assume that a transfer is the correct approach. The cost of this evaluation is $600. If a transfer is considered advantageous, then the physical process of arranging for the funds to be transferred to Australia and placed in a complying Australian superannuation fund costs a further $900 – payable only on successful completion of the transfer. The entire process includes the following (very summarised) set of services:
What is Not Included
The service does not include advice on either the selection of a superannuation fund or investment advice. We can arrange for this to be provided by experienced, independent advisors who are paid on a fee for service basis and have no vested interest in the selection of particular products or services except their suitability for your individual requirements. You would receive a quote in advance for any work or advice required and you would not be subject to any commitment.
Transfers from Other Countries
The fees attaching to the transfer of funds out of other countries other than the UK will usually be of a similar order, but there is a considerable degree of variability and individual quotations will be provided on request. We have however prepared some notes on the issues surrounding the transfer of 401(k)'s and IRA's from the United States. Also note that in the right circumstances (early) withdrawals can be made from both IRA's, 401(k)'s and Canadian RRSP's on concessional terms which allow for the transfer of funds into Australian superannuation.
An Overview
We operate on the basis that individuals should have a working knowledge of the pension transfer process so that they can have an intelligent dialogue with advisers regarding both the merits of any transfer and the process itself. Within this section of the website, we have attempted to address many of the issues involved in a transfer, and provide an overview in the following pages:
On a final note, during the first half of 2007 there was a rumour circulating which suggested that pension transfers from the UK would cease to be possible with effect from July 1, 2007. There had never been any formal announcements from the UK Government to this effect, and the relevant UK Regulations were amended to clearly indicate that Australian Superannuation Funds are QROPS compliant and capable of continuing to receive pension transfers. We have made a copy of the Explanatory Memorandum (which is quite lengthy and technical) available for download.
Please click on the link below to initiate an Inquiry regarding a transfer. There are no commitments attaching to any inquiries, and you can expect a prompt and courteous response.
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