Frequenting some of the coffee shops or Pubs in London will almost certainly guarantee that you will hear a non-London accent, and it is a good chance that it will be a Kiwi one!
It can also be true that after a while in Auckland you will most certainly bump into someone with a British accent. The transfer of people around the world is made easier by airline networks and increases our propensity to travel and live and work in another country for a while. Many Kiwis choose to live and work in the UK and many settlers in New Zealand are British. The UK newspaper, the Daily Mail reported that over 5 million Brits have immigrated, with a more than a quarter moving to the Antipodes. In fact, over 300,000 people who were born in the UK now live permanently in New Zealand.
Whilst it is relatively easy to arrange travel, moving your money and in particular, your Pension and Superannuation funds, is a wee bit more difficult. Constant changes to regulatory policy in both New Zealand and the UK have made things less straightforward; add in tax and different savings regimes and it becomes a bit of a minefield. This has led to the growth of ‘UK Pension Transfer Specialists,’ who have typically advertised on TV and radio with great success. However, the cost of these transfers and the on-going charges have made customers think twice about using these providers. With the support of specialist, qualified fund managers, we can now offer a UK Pension transfer process with no transfer fees and very reasonable on-going Superannuation costs. I have come across plans which were charged 3% up front and an on-going fee of over 1%. This serves the New Zealand adviser very well but does not help the pension fund build up for retirement! What people don’t realise is that once you have transferred your funds over from the UK, you don’t have to retain it with the original adviser firm. As long as you remain within the Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) rules, which are those set by HMRC in the UK, you can transfer the funds into another QROPS scheme, usually with lower fees and often with better returns!
The issues that UK expats face is that they can be in a defined benefit or a defined contribution pension scheme and require expert advice from a UK based adviser to ensure that they are doing the right thing in moving their pension. They also face tax implications with the IRD in New Zealand, depending on how long they have resided in New Zealand. So the need for specialist advice is warranted, I just think that it has been exploited at the cost of the UK expat. I am interested in hearing from anyone who has a pension scheme in the UK, whether a UK expat or returning Kiwi who has worked there, to discuss the options available to them, as well as those who have moved their schemes and are still smarting from the high fees and on-going costs.
Disclosure: Daniel Glynn is an Authorised Financial Adviser (A.F.A) and Director of Glynns Financial Services in Albany, Auckland. His disclosure statement is available upon request and for free.