Make Pension Planning Global with QROPS

As many as one in five people could be throwing away thousands, simply by not taking the best advice on what to do with their pensions.

Research has recently shown around 19 per cent of people approaching pensionable age don’t take independent financial advice and prefer recommendation from family and friends or their own internet research.

With many people considering living abroad the complexities of pensions are even greater. Just as you are free to live and work in Europe and many places in the world your pension can move with you taking advantage of potentially much lower tax implications. Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) make pension planning truly global and not many IFA’s have that advisory expertise. QROPS can be found on HMRC’s website but QNUPS (Qualifying Non UK pension schemes) cannot. So whilst Pension simplification was a goal some years ago the rules are as complex. Without specialist IFA advice there is little chance of seeing all the options. 

A major problem for many pensioners is how to put their saved cash to best use.

Options such as buying an annuity or risks of investing for additional income can be confusing at best. On top of which, factors such as the desire to reduce inheritance and income tax needs to be considered.

If you don’t see Europe as a tax haven then consider that in Cyprus only 5% income tax is levied on private pensions and only a small portion of pension income in Spain and Portugal are taxable.

Yet despite the threat of losing so much money, many people still don’t approach an experienced IFA perhaps thinking their pension fund is too small or there are no options to consider. By this course of action they can often be missing out on a bigger income, the bigger picture and a tailor made range of global pension options.

IFA’s who are UK authorised and regulated have moved into the 21st century, have sought higher qualifications and are highly regulated. New rules introduced this year from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will make transactions completely transparent but in reality most IFA’s have already adopted this approach some time ago.