Portable pensions? After the upset caused by Equitable Life we wanted to know more about this topic at Expatsradio.com. During our first programme with expat website Paguro.net, we touched upon the problem of moving your pension with you when you change countries. To help clarify things from the British side, we asked Deborah Benn, Managing Editor of The Expat Money Channel to run over the situation.
Moving your pension has become easier with Qualified Recognised Overseas Pensions (QROPS). Deborah gives a brief outline of what they are.
Is trouble brewing with these? There are quite a few problems for expats in terms of advice they are receiving and the rules are complicated and need to be made clearer. She goes on to outline some recent problems with expats losing money.
There are plenty of people for whom a QROPS is no the answer or who are already tapping into their UK pension. Some people are receiving personal pensions from the UK and she stresses the importance of keeping an eye on it. For example, many expats will now be in receiving pensions from companies that have since closed to new business. Performance of these funds is not great and neither is the administration.
If you'd like to know more you can visit Deborah's site at www.expatmoneychannel.com
The expat site http://Paguro.net is also a useful resource for expats.
We'd be happy to have financial questions which we can deal with in future programmes.
We shall be asking some experts in the pension field to give us their advice over the coming weeks.