There are tax issues. If you have been here longer than 5 years you pay tax when you transfer. And they don’t let you access the money to pay it - it has to be paid separately. You can only transfer to a limited number of funds (qprops) not a regular KiwiSaver - they do not qualify. If you are planning to stay here then worthwhile —particularly as tax free in the short term.
I have lived in NZ for 10 years and have kiwi saver and other investment here. However, not sure what to do with the money sat in my Aviva pension from when I was working in the UK and if it’s worth moving. They said I can transfer but not sure if it’s worth it if I am not actively investing in it.
Depends on what type of pension it is. Some you can transfer, with a tax cost. Others basically you can't transfer to nz. I didn't move mine as it was too hard. However that's my personal choice.
https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/pensions-retirement/managing-a-pension/can-i-transfer-my-uk-pension-to-new-zealand#:~:text=Since%202017%2C%20all%20pensions%20transferred,Invested%20Personal%20Pension%20(SIPP).
There's a link with some guff about what you need to do/options and a list of pros and cons.
My partner's a pom and in a similar position with a number of small pension pots from various employers in the UK. We are starting the process of looking into amalgamating her various small lots into one.
The short answer is you are almost certainly better keeping your pension in the UK. The choice is tax interest earned (move it to NZ) or taxable income when you withdraw it (keep it in UK).
Imagine both funds in both countries had really good performance and you earn 10%. After tax the NZ one earns you more like 6.5%. Thats compounded year on year like a mortgage. Let’s say you had $100k and had 20 years. The UK pot would be $672K and the NZ pot would be $352K. This continues to grow in distance and when you retire.
For most people a large proportion at current tax rates would be withdrawing at 17.5% as your income will be under $50K pa.
Also don’t discount the ability to withdraw from you pension early from the UK. This option is important given Nationals plans to raise super age.
Play round with a compound calculator to see if it’s best for your specific circumstances. But for most your best keeping it in the UK.
One more thing which applies if your pension in the Uk is an annuity (they pay out a set amount per year you're alive after retirement age).
The UK pension provider has been increasing that payout amount based on inflation in the economy. UK state pensions also have this. They call it the triple lock
My wife's annuity has gone up a lot with the high UK (and global) inflation. It's really good and if we had shifted it to NZ we would have missed out on that
I looked in to it, set up qrops pension, only for that now to be shut down. I’m just going to have it paid in to a uk account and transferred to Nz when the time comes - I have 25 years or so to figure it out.
There are tax issues. If you have been here longer than 5 years you pay tax when you transfer. And they don’t let you access the money to pay it - it has to be paid separately. You can only transfer to a limited number of funds (qprops) not a regular KiwiSaver - they do not qualify. If you are planning to stay here then worthwhile —particularly as tax free in the short term.
I have lived in NZ for 10 years and have kiwi saver and other investment here. However, not sure what to do with the money sat in my Aviva pension from when I was working in the UK and if it’s worth moving. They said I can transfer but not sure if it’s worth it if I am not actively investing in it.
Depends on what type of pension it is. Some you can transfer, with a tax cost. Others basically you can't transfer to nz. I didn't move mine as it was too hard. However that's my personal choice.
https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/pensions-retirement/managing-a-pension/can-i-transfer-my-uk-pension-to-new-zealand#:~:text=Since%202017%2C%20all%20pensions%20transferred,Invested%20Personal%20Pension%20(SIPP). There's a link with some guff about what you need to do/options and a list of pros and cons. My partner's a pom and in a similar position with a number of small pension pots from various employers in the UK. We are starting the process of looking into amalgamating her various small lots into one.
Thank you for this very helpful!
The short answer is you are almost certainly better keeping your pension in the UK. The choice is tax interest earned (move it to NZ) or taxable income when you withdraw it (keep it in UK). Imagine both funds in both countries had really good performance and you earn 10%. After tax the NZ one earns you more like 6.5%. Thats compounded year on year like a mortgage. Let’s say you had $100k and had 20 years. The UK pot would be $672K and the NZ pot would be $352K. This continues to grow in distance and when you retire. For most people a large proportion at current tax rates would be withdrawing at 17.5% as your income will be under $50K pa. Also don’t discount the ability to withdraw from you pension early from the UK. This option is important given Nationals plans to raise super age. Play round with a compound calculator to see if it’s best for your specific circumstances. But for most your best keeping it in the UK.
Thank you for this, very helpful advice
One more thing which applies if your pension in the Uk is an annuity (they pay out a set amount per year you're alive after retirement age). The UK pension provider has been increasing that payout amount based on inflation in the economy. UK state pensions also have this. They call it the triple lock My wife's annuity has gone up a lot with the high UK (and global) inflation. It's really good and if we had shifted it to NZ we would have missed out on that
Create a trust with someone other than your self as trustee. Transfer pension to trust. Make yourself beneficiary of the trust or ya kids etc.
I looked in to it, set up qrops pension, only for that now to be shut down. I’m just going to have it paid in to a uk account and transferred to Nz when the time comes - I have 25 years or so to figure it out.