Finding your pensions before making a transfer overseas

The days of the “job for life” with a single employer are, for most of us, long-gone and we are now far more likely to have multiple jobs paying into a number of different pension schemes – whether defined benefit, defined contribution or private stake holder. In order to get an accurate and full idea of your pension wealth it is essential that you are able to factor every single one of your pensions into a valuation.

Pension transfers are a hot topic at the moment, especially if you’re an expat and want to transfer your pension overseas. And if, like many, you have lost track of the various pension pots you have amassed throughout your career, it can be hard to know how to gather together all the information you need in order to make a decision about whether a pension transfer would be in your best interests.

How to find all of your pensions schemes

If you are a member of a pension scheme and the provider has your correct address, it is likely that you will be receiving an annual pension statement. However, if you are an expat who has moved abroad without informing all your providers of your new address, you may not have been receiving regular information.

In this situation there are three organisations you can contact to help you find your pension details:

• The pension scheme provider
• Your former employer, if it was a workplace pension, or
• The Pension Tracing Service

Whoever you contact, it is helpful to the process if you can provide them with as much personal information as possible. For example, you should attempt to provide all of the following:

• Your date of birth
• Your National Insurance number
• Your pension plan number
• The date your pension was set up
• The name of your previous employer/s
• The type of business you were working in
• When you belonged to the scheme

The Pensions Tracing Service

The Pension Tracing Service is perhaps the single most useful portal for tracing your pensions before embarking on a transfer of pensions overseas.

The service is free and it is even possible to find a pension if you do not have the contact information for the provider or providers concerned.

However, The Pension Tracing Service will only provide contact details of the scheme’s administrator. It is up to you to contact the pension administrator to confirm whether you have a pension, to find out its value and to request a pension transfer overseas.

Things you will need to know

Once you have traced your various pension schemes, there are several things it will be useful to find out. For instance:

• The current value of the pension pot and how much will be payable at your chosen date of retirement
• The amount of management fees being charged
• Whether there will be any charges for making a pension transfer
• What options, if any, there are for you to decide how your pension pot is being invested

Help transferring your pension overseas

Blacktower Financial Management provides regulated advice on the suitability of transferring a pension overseas to a QROPS, SIPP or other vehicle. We only ever suggest a pension transfer when it is in the best interest of the saver and only after undertaking an exhaustive fact-finding process.

For more information about how we may be able to help you, contact us today.