UK Pensions - QROPS schemes

[sargeant]

Lomu i have no idea what does that mean

[Big Boy]

I agree, what is Tax Efficient? How do I know if I'm Tax Efficient?

[Edit] Wikepedia states, "A financial process is said to be tax efficient if it is taxed at a lower rate than an alternative financial process that achieves the same end." As far as I know, being in receipt of a Government Pension, I have no option but to be taxed at source.

Unless somebody can tell me differently.

[PJG]

I may be mistaken but I was under the impression that QROPS schemes were applicable to private stakeholder pensions. Not sure if final salary pensions fall under those rules.

[lomuamart]

Just pay the least amount of tax you can.
That would seem efficient to me.

[sargeant]

Tax efficient??? i am with BB i pay tax at source ie my BA pension I pay no tax on my state pension as such all tax on my total income ie BA PLUS state is deducted from my BA pension
Tax code says i get 10,500 quid before tax kicks in

I had the embarrassing task of explaining to my wife that i have been calculating her widows pension incorrectly by taking 15 years of of the difference in our ages instead of 10

Her response was then cut the fags and live longer you fatbassa I gorra luv er
I am still a skinny 83 kilos

[zevon]

The biggest incentive I can see for using a QROPS scheme is that I understand that you will avoid UK inheritance tax upon death which I understand to be currently 55%.
The funds must be transferred to a UK govt approved scheme but this does not mean guaranteed. They are not without risk and restrictions and it would be necessary to have confidence in an investment advisor who could recommend a scheme to suit

[Dannie Boy]

The biggest incentive I can see for using a QROPS scheme is that I understand that you will avoid UK inheritance tax upon death which I understand to be currently 55%.
The funds must be transferred to a UK govt approved scheme but this does not mean guaranteed. They are not without risk and restrictions and it would be necessary to have confidence in an investment advisor who could recommend a scheme to suit

Inheritance tax is 40% on any assets that exceed the exception, currently I believe at £325,000.

The rest of it very much requires thorough investigation.

[lomuamart]

zevon,
That seems like good advice. Thanks.

[James5245]

Hi all, please accept my apologies if this breaks any rules of the forum at all.
I regularly use the forum here to check out what's going on in Hua Hin as I spend a lot of my time there (I actually work in Bangkok but like to get to HH as many weekends as possible) and I saw this thread today.

My line of work is actually in QROPS and pensions. I won't say who I work for as I do not wish this to seem like an ad! I just wanted to say that if you did need to have any questions answered, just drop me a PM and i'll answer any QROPS/pension related questions you might have.

Again - if this is not allowed, please accept my apologies. I just wanted to be able to help.

[Dannie Boy]

Hi all, please accept my apologies if this breaks any rules of the forum at all.
I regularly use the forum here to check out what's going on in Hua Hin as I spend a lot of my time there (I actually work in Bangkok but like to get to HH as many weekends as possible) and I saw this thread today.

My line of work is actually in QROPS and pensions. I won't say who I work for as I do not wish this to seem like an ad! I just wanted to say that if you did need to have any questions answered, just drop me a PM and i'll answer any QROPS/pension related questions you might have.

Again - if this is not allowed, please accept my apologies. I just wanted to be able to help.

Well start posting James, because you cannot send/receive PM's until you have at least 10 posts!!

[James5245]

Haha, oh lordy!
Okay, in the mean time, if anyone does have general questions regarding QROPS, I'm more than happy to answer on the thread until I can receive/send PM's!

Thanks for the heads up Dannie!

[Bristolian]

I suggest that you post some guidelines:
1) who qualifies ?
2) who could win or lose?
3) what are the upsides and downsides?

Just general info to get the questions flowing

[PET]

I suggest that you post some guidelines:
1) who qualifies ?
2) who could win or lose?
3) what are the upsides and downsides?

Just general info to get the questions flowing

Personally I searched 'QROPS'' and came up with all the general answers.

Great care must be taken with the ''Agents'' because they are generally commission driven, and it be could be as high as 7% of your pension fund !! Get recommendations from trusted friends or start looking via your own previous contacts

[James5245]

Okay, so to answer the 3 questions from Bristolian:
1) QROPS is available to any person who worked in the UK and paid into either a company pension scheme, or a private pension scheme. Even non UK nationals that worked in the UK and paid into a UK company pension scheme. State pensions, unfortunately are not transferrable. Civil service pensions are also transferrable, provided they are not in draw down. If a company pension is in drawdown, again, unfortunately it would not be transferrable. Private pensions, in most cases, can be transferred even if they are being drawn, but this does vary from provider to provider.

2) The benefits to QROPS have already been touched on in this thread, so I won't go too in depth with them, suffice to say that the benefits are there to be seen! The winners would be guys that are settled away from the UK and probably would not be returning in the future, thus any pension that was transferred via QROPS will (in most cases) not be liable to tax. Also, guys with families and spouses that are not UK nationals find it very favourable due to having the option to decide who exactly does receive their money in the event of death, and of course, no inheritance tax!

3) Well, the upsides are pretty much as above! I think it's important here to touch on what PET pointed out. QROPS right now is a big, big thing and quite rightly so. The UK pension scene is not in good shape. It really isn't! Again, when I'm finally able to receive PM's, i'll be more than happy to give facts and figures about this. As PET pointed out, there are agents and many, many companies that advertise the service and of course, some of them are known to actually take a commission out of your money. As I said in my earlier post, I do work for a company who carry out QROPS services and we don't take any commission from a clients' funds.
It can all get a little in depth from here. Different companies will places your pensions in different tax jurisdictions (Eg, Malta, New Zealand, Gibraltar) and some are stronger/safer than others. Some give clients' the opportunity to take their pension at 50. Some at 55.

[caller]

As a humble uk public servant, what does 'draw down' mean?