Getting the best advice is one thing everyone wants when putting a strategy together for retirement and inheritance tax planning.
The problem is selecting the right advisor to suit your personal financial circumstances.
UK retirement options are not necessarily the best for clients who have connections with another country or who might retire to another country.
Warning bells should go off if your advisor does not cover whether you have any connection with another country – like:
- You are a non-UK national
- Holding a UK and overseas passport
- You are married to a partner from another country
- You have the right to live in another country
- Intending to move permanently to another country
If you highlight one or more of these points, your advisor should discuss a QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) as part of your retirement and inheritance tax planning as a QROPS is a cornerstone for both for anyone moving abroad who has UK pension rights.
Even if you and your advisor consider a QROPS is not the best option for you, the product should still form part of the discussion.
To protect yourself, take independent advice from a UK regulated professional with knowledge of QROPS.
UK regulation is important because Financial Service Authority guidelines to advisors say they must ‘know their client’ to give best advice.
Asking about any overseas connections and considering how this affects tax and financial advice is an intrinsic part of this getting to know you process.
A specialist advisor is best because they have experience and contacts in the market because they deal with QROPS every day, when a high street advisor may only come across offshore pension schemes every now and then.
