Bringing Your Pension Home
If you leave your legacy pension in the UK you may have to pay for financial advice to access it and your income in retirement will be subject to foreign exchange risk. For convenience, cost and certainty it may now be worth considering bringing your pension home. If you’re going to move your pension to Ireland, it is likely that doing it sooner rather than later will be to your advantage.
Changes in legislation introduced as part of the Finance Act 2022 mean that leaving a foreign pension abroad may not be as advantageous as it used to be. It used to be the case that if you matured a foreign pension the lump sum taken didn’t count towards your lifetime limit of €200,000 on tax free lump sums here in Ireland. As part of the Finance Act 2022 this was changed and lump sums drawn from foreign pension schemes by Irish residents now count towards your lifetime allowance. This makes moving your pension home a more viable option for many.
If being brought to Ireland a UK pension must be transferred to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS). This is a pension scheme which, although located in Ireland, has been registered with HMRC in the UK and can accept a pension transfer without triggering a tax charge as long as certain conditions are met. We can provide advice on the tax implications of moving your pension and ensure that you do not incur this tax.
Why move now?
- If you have a pension in the UK your income in retirement will be subject to exchange rate risk which means it’s future value is uncertain.
- In general, accessing a pension is usually going to be easier if it his held in the jurisdiction in which you live. We can show you the retirement options you will have in the UK, and how these change if you transfer your pension to Ireland.
- Treatment on death – it is easier to deal with this when the funds are in an Irish product as opposed to having to deal with administrators in the UK and possibly having to pay for advice from a UK adviser.
- Having your pension held where you live eliminates foreign exchange risk during your retirement.
- If you are going to move your pension to Ireland, it may be more cost effective to do it sooner rather than later. Give us a call and we can explain why this is likely to be the case.
It is important that you obtain advice from an adviser with experience of cross border transfers as there is more to consider than is the case with internal transfers. We can obtain details of your pension product and explain the issues to you without using technical jargon.
Contact us today on 01 546 1100, by email to info@hfp.ie or book a no-obligation Zoom call with us here.
CONTACT US NOW FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CHAT
The material and information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. Neither the writer nor Highfield Financial Planning Ltd makes any warranty as to the completeness, accuracy or reliability of the information or the suitability or availability of products or services, referred to on the website, for any purpose. You should not rely on any information contained on this website as a basis for making any financial, legal, taxation or other decision. The information presented does not include all the considerations which are relevant to the topic discussed as to do so would render it un-readable. When considering any financial issue you should seek the advice of a suitably qualified adviser.
ABOUT US
Best Pension Advice is a trading name of Highfield Financial Planning, the most client focused financial services company in Ireland. We provide superior advice on Retirement Planning for all types of pension available in the Irish market. As Specialist Investment Advisers we can also help you to manage the investment of your pension to achieve your income objectives in retirement.