Professional Advice - Always Best

Regulated, Qualified and Professional Advice

If you need advice, please email me.

UPDATED APRIL 2020
'In these difficult times it's good to know that you can see an adviser with modern technology. After initial contact by email, phone and text, but only if necessary, it is possible to make video calls'

My own connections included the following professionals;

• Regulated financial advisers

There are many people and organisations who call themselves ‘financial advisers’ without any qualifications and no regulatory body. I will only recommended regulated and fully qualified advisers who’s services I have checked.

Value for money comes from open and clear commissions and charges declared in an honest way. Hidden charges and undeclared commissions should always be avoided. For a referral to a suitably qualified & regulated adviser, please email me.

Due Diligence is vital

• Suitably qualified accountants and professional lawyers

Both the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Law Society have qualified professionals working in Spain. Whilst you may have a good local source for advice, the professional standing of these people cannot be denied. If you need a referral, please email me.

You are further protected as all qualified professionals will carry ‘Professional Indemnity Insurance’ (PI) just in case anything goes wrong.

Unless your situation is very complex, I would expect most professionals to give you an estimate of costs upfront.

• Chartered surveyors in Spain

Similarly, I can recommend UK qualified Surveyors. Please email me to be referred

• Estate Agents

This is an area of service which is by definition very local. You could already know of a local estate agent with a good local reputation. If this is not the case I can recommend you to a Member of the Association of International Property Professionals.

• Company formation for property ownership

This is a very specialised service and is often used to save on Spanish Inheritance Tax (ISD). There is a service on my blog under the heading ‘Check your Spanish Inheritance Tax Liability’ to the right of this article.

The service involves the formation of a UK company to own a property in Spain. It involves UK law for the formation of the company and Spanish contracts, translations and knowledge of Spanish law. For this reason, the company concerned has offices in both UK and Spain.

• Foreign Exchange

I set up La Torre Fx – Foreign Exchange with the specific objective of beating the banks. This is a service and it is worth checking out, with easy access on the right of the blog.

La Torre Fx – Foreign Exchange is linked to a highly professional ‘trading platform’ provided by FTT Global. All of the necessary regulations are in place;

Key Facts about FTT Global:

·        Registered in the United Kingdom - Company Number 5685288

·        Regulated by FCA - Registration Number 503228

·        Regulated by HMRC - Registration Number 12231114

·        Registered for Client Data Protection - ICO Number Z9470988

·        Underwritten by A Rated Insurer

·        Corporate Bankers - Barclays Bank PLC

·       Get the best rate today

If you email please let me know your question and where you live. I may be able to answer myself, just point you in the right direction or refer you to a suitably qualified person.

Please remember that my Blog is about unbiased, factual financial information. You can look elsewhere for information but remember that an advert will certainly be biased towards the company who paid for it. I have no problem with that but remember it’s biased!

David Goodall

Financial Pages in Spain

davidgoodall.spain@gmail.com

Also Recommended:

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UK Pension Schemes or Plans but you have emigrated?

Ask for a review, without obligation, with a UK AUTHORISED adviser with experience of helping expats. UK Budget changes to Pensions make this VITAL

Types of schemes, options and regulated advice

It seems that every year, in the UK, there are new laws, new regulations, new ideas or changes to pension plans or schemes. Just to complicate matters there are still many arrangements which have different names! The changes announced in March 2015 are fundamental

UK Pension Plans and Schemes

Here are a list (and it probably isn’t exhaustive) of the titles sometimes used for pension plans. If you have one but don’t understand what it is, please email me.

PPP – Personal Pension Plan

SIPP – Self Invested Personal Pension

GPP – Group Personal Pension Plan

S32 – Section 32 Pension Transfer Plan

ShP - Stakeholder Pensions

PPTP – Personal Pension Transfer Plan

UP – Unsecured Pension

ID – Income Drawdown

ASP – Alternatively secured pension     

AVC – Additional Voluntary Contributions

FSAVC – Free Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions

COMPS – Contracted Out Money Purchase Scheme

CIMPS – Contracted In Money Purchase Scheme

EPP – Executive Pension Plan

RAC – Retirement Annuity Contract

Section 226 Annuities

Superannuation Schemes

SSAS – Small Self Administered Scheme

OPS – Occupational Pension Scheme

DBS – Defined Benefits Scheme

FSP – Final Salary Scheme (DBS & FSP are the same – different names)

S2P – State Second Pension

GPS – Graduated Pension Scheme

SERPS – State Earnings Related Pension Scheme

BSP - Basic State Pension

SRP – State Retirement Pension (BSP & SRP are the same)

Maybe, you’ve even got something with a name not covered here! Please email me if you want anything explained!

Even when you have understood the plan or scheme you have, there could be a whole variety of rules and regulations that you don’t understand.

What are Your Options?

This is not meant to be exhaustive and is generic, you really need to consult a reputable authorised pension adviser.

·        Do nothing

This is very much the worst option. If your circumstances are changed, including emigrating, you need to know the affect on your pension arrangements

• Take the benefits exactly as they were intended but transfer the pension income to Spain

This is often a good option but still needs to be reviewed. Circumstances change and you might have benefits you no longer need or you want to change the date of retirement. Many schemes have restrictive clauses which can affect your options and rights. You also need the correct tax treatment of your income.

• Bring your pensions together in a QROPS

For most people who emigrate, this is the best option, though it also needs caution and advice from a specialist. I recommend the ‘further reading’ below. In particular, beware of adverts which promise cash settlements and benefits before normal retirement date. If it sounds too good to be true, well you know the rest. Please email me for details of a genuine specialist.

• Bring your pensions together in a SIPP

You can certainly use this as an option. If your emigration is not permanent it could be a good one. However, the self investment aspect of a SIPP is often available within a QROPS. Not all SIPP trustees will allow investors who live outside the UK, so you certainly need specialist advice.

• Best decision : Review your pension options with an authorised UK pension transfer adviser

August 2014

Warning from HM Government about UK Pensions

From Steve Webb, Pensions Minister

“If cold callers offer you massive returns for your pension pot that are just too good to be true, it is because they are.”

Sunday Times August 10^th 2014

Warning

For most people, their Pension Fund is the biggest or second biggest asset. BEWARE Scam Watch as this post warns

David Goodall

Financial Pages in Spain

Email

Further Reading:

QROPS Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes

Pension Terms & Expressions

Do you transfer money, bank to bank on a regular basis? You can reduce the ‘currency risk’ with La Torre Fx – Foreign Exchange This service is also better than most banks for one off transfers

                              

Explaining Pensions Terms and Expressions

This is an alphabetical list which helps to cut through the jargon often used when discussing pensions.

Incorporates changes made from 6 April 2013

·       UK pension plans / schemes applicable to expats

·       ALWAYS Get a professional Adviser

·       Understanding QROPS & QNUPS

A Day
6 April 2006 was the day the UK Government pension simplification rules came into effect.

ASP - Alternatively secured pensions
At the age of 75 an alternatively secured pension would allow an individual withdrawal of income, similar to an unsecured pension fund such as income drawdown

Since 6 April 2011, no new ASP can be commenced but existing ones can continue until the next review date. The existing ASP fund can be transferred to Income Drawdown (Unsecured Pension) plan or an annuity commenced.

AVCs – Additional Voluntary Contributions
A pension top-up for an occupational pension scheme. The scheme members pay contributions into an arrangement run by the employer to boost the main pension.

FCA - The Financial Conduct Authority
The FCA has taken on the role previouslyundertaken by the FSA - the UK's financial services regulator. The FCA also ‘passports’ authorised advisers to operate in other countries. For a recommended adviser click here.

FSAVCs – Free-Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions
A pension top-up policy for an occupational pension, but separate from the employer’s pension scheme and normally run by an insurance firm.

FSA
The Financial Services Authority - was replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2013

Group Personal Pension
A type of personal pension offered by some employers but not classified as occupational (see money purchase pension).

Lifetime allowance
This is a limit on the value of retirement benefits that you can draw from approved pension schemes before tax penalties apply. The Lifetime Allowance was £1.5m in the 2012/13 tax year but reduced to £1.25 million in 2013/14, from 6^th April 2013. Anyone whose fund is approaching or is already above these figures needs to act soon! Please email me

Lifetime annuity

A lifetime annuity converts money from a pension fund into pension income, which is taxable. There are different types to suit different circumstances and often treated more favourably for tax purposes in other countries.

Money purchase pensions
Some occupational pensions and all personal, group personal, stakeholder, FSAVCs and some AVCs are money purchase pensions. The contributions are invested in, for example, the stockmarket or bonds. The size of the fund depends on the contributions and how well the investments perform. At retirement, there is a choice of options to provide you with a retirement income.

Occupational pension
These are only available through employers and run by pension scheme trustees. There are two types – salary-related (defined benefit) and money purchase (defined contribution).

Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS)
Though often referred to as ‘Tax-Free Lump Sum (see below), PCLS is more accurate as it MUST be taken as the first benefit.

Pension Liberation
Increasing numbers of pension savers are being targeted by unscrupulous companies encouraging them to access their pension savings early. This is commonly known as 'pension liberation' and has significant tax consequences. This is from HMRC Website

Personal pension
A pension policy taken out by an individual from an insurance company or another financial institution and into which personal contributions are made. It may also be offered by employers.

Protected rights pension
This is the part of a pension fund which was used to contract out of the UK State Second Pension (SERPS or S2P) that must be used to buy a protected rights annuity.

QNUPS -  Qualifying Non UK Pension Scheme, which means it meets the criteria set by the regulations the UK government brought out in February of 2010. This means that or a UK or non-UK resident, there is an opportunity to make contributions to overseas schemes, established as QNUPS, with the knowledge that those funds will be sheltered from UK IHT. Individual advice should be taken in all circumstances from a regulated and authorised adviser. Please email for a recommendation.

Q - Day
6^th April 2012 is the day on which fundamental changes to QROPS became effective.

QROPS - Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes
These became available from A-Day. It is a pension scheme set up outside the UK that is regulated and recognised for tax purposes as a pension scheme in the country in which it is located. The QROPS planholder and the QROPS policy don’t have to be in the same country and this is almost always an advantage. QROPS have been established in various countries across the world, many in jurisdictions with beneficial tax rules. QROPS can now also be established with similar rules to SIPP (please see below). For specialist advice click here

Salary-related pension scheme (final salary or defined benefit)
A type of occupational pension. The amount of pension you get is worked out on your salary at or near retirement, or when you left employment, and your pensionable service.

Self invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
Essentially the same as a Personal Pension described above. However, with a SIPP the individual can exercise discretion over the investment policy, subject to the rules of the SIPP provider. This should always be done with professional guidance and if you want access to a specialist, please Email me

Stakeholder pension
A type of personal pension that has to meet certain standards set by the UK Government. An individual can take one out or it may be available through an employer, but is not classified as occupational. 

State Pension
The UK Pension Service (part of the Department for Work and Pensions) will pay the basic State Pension based on an individual’s National Insurance contribution record. In addition, individuals may also qualify for the State Second Pension based on their own earnings and National Insurance contributions.

State Second Pension
The State Second Pension is an additional State pension paid on top of your basic State Pension. This was called SERPS. Self-employed people cannot build up a State Second Pension.

Tax-free lump sum
An amount of cash set by tax law which you can take at retirement free of tax. Salary-related occupational pension schemes may have different rules on the amount of tax free cash you can take. This is only tax-free to UK residents. Tax-free cash should correctly be called ‘Pension Commencement Lump Sum’ (PCLS) since it can only be taken as the first benefit from a pension Plan

Unsecured Pension (Income Drawdown)
This is an alternative to buying an annuity but provides an income whilst the pension is still invested. At age 75, the unsecured pension must cease and be replaced by either a Lifetime Annuity or ASP. For non UK residents or those intending to become non-resident, QROPS could be another alternative.


Pensions Advisers, including the ones that I recommend, will be happy to cut through the jargon. Email me for a recommendation

Additional Posts

QNUPS
http://expatsfrombritain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/qnups-qualifying-non-uk-pension-schemes.html

QROPS
http://expatsfrombritain.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/qrops-comparing-jurisdictions.html

UK Pension Plan but you live in Spain
http://expatsfrombritain.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/uk-pension-scheme-or-plan-but-you-live.html

David Goodall

Financial Pages in Spain

Email: davidgoodall.spain@gmail.com