Many individuals work in multiple countries during their career, which may lead to building up pension benefits in more than one jurisdiction. Inevitably this means that pensions may be held in a location different to where you intend to retire, which may have an effect on the tax effectiveness, suitability of underlying investment allocation and, of course, the currency of your benefits.

When looking into your options you may come across terms such as QROPS, QNUPS, offshore pensions and international SIPPs, each claiming to be the solution to all your worries. The truth is that as with any type of asset structuring, each pension structure and jurisdiction will have its advantages and drawbacks. The key is to balance these relative advantages in order to find the optimum position for your personal financial plan.

At Partners Wealth Management we are not predisposed to any one type of pension plan but will help you consider and assess which solutions might be best for you. This will include eliminating myths around needing to transfer your pension to another jurisdiction, which is not always necessary and can often be more costly than working within the flexibilities of a jurisdiction like the UK. We can also help you consider the benefit of combining your pension schemes and benefiting from the UK’s Enhanced Lifetime Allowance for individuals who have offshore pensions.

Useful Resources

An Introduction to Pension Choices

• Pension planning is inherently a long-term process and the earlier it starts the more effective it can be. Our guide provides an introduction to pensions and the decisions our clients may face as we work with them to ensure a fully co-ordinated approach to their present and future financial wellbeing.

An Introduction to Tax and Pensions

• Tax relief on pension contributions is a familiar feature of the fiscal landscape that has so far survived calls for it to be eliminated. However, as most high earners discover as their careers progress, there are significant implications of inadvertently breaching limits, as detailed in our  guide.