Simon is a 64 year old expat who has worked internationally during his entire career. He has consistently saved for his retirement throughout his career which has been primarily at one company in the PR industry. He’s lived with his partner for around 20 years. Together they have no children or other worries.

Simon had a number of plans simultaneously from employers going back 20+ years. A few years ago he sold what he thought was going to be his retirement home in southern Spain and took the proceeds and invested in two parts: a Personal Portfolio Bond (PPB) and a holiday home in Thailand which he paid for in cash.

Although he still enjoys visiting family and friends in the UK he has no intention of returning there after retirement and consulted Discretion Wealth Management to see what could be done to make sense of the five pension plans he had for his planned retirement in Asia. These plans were all paid up (no longer taking contributions), and through investigation by the Discretion consultant with the providers it was found some still had high ongoing charges and one had a significant penalty charge for transfer to any other scheme outside the UK.

Discretion conducted a Financial Planning Profile to determine Simon’s planning objectives as well as a Risk Profile Questionnaire and subsequently recommended that all but one scheme could be transferred to a QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) without significant surrender penalties. This would allow him to receive a significant benefit of a pension free from the high income taxes applicable in UK as well as the ultimate benefit of no inheritance tax to ensure that his estate could pass to who he wanted.

The consultant advised that the remaining scheme could be first transferred to a UK SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension scheme) and subsequently transferred without any penalties to James' QROPS to provide a single cost and tax efficient scheme with £500,000. As a result he had access to an investment platform with open architecture which meant a much wider range of funds than the limited choices available with his existing plans.

Simon was advised about the process and conditions of transfer for existing pension schemes as well as the different benefits according to the jurisdiction selected for the trustees of his pension fund which is also explained in the Platinum QROPS Guide. Whilst interested in fund investment as a hobby, he opted to subscribe to the Platinum 'Options' service with Discretionary Management of the funds to ensure that professional managers would look after his interests in line with his future plans for retirement in Asia.