Millions Cannot Afford To Retire Until They Reach Their 70s
Annuities are in such a mess in Britain that just about a third of employees won't have enough money saved to pay for retirement till they are in their 70s.
Millions are intending to work on for as much as 10 years after retirement age – some till they are 75 years old or more.
The dread driving retirement savers is they'll outlive their money and finish up spending their later years in poverty.
One of the issues faced by ex pat OAPs is whether to leave annuity funds back in The United Kingdom when they depart – or whether to move their retirement savings offshore.
The most recommended offshore pension is a QROPS.
The attractions of a QROPS are numerous for ex pats – pensions paid gross, bigger tax-free lump sums and more flexible investment options to cite a couple – but are they profitable for everyone?
Indubitably, QROPS aren't a universal retirement solution.
The key test is having a look at current allowance arrangements and how they're performing and then comparing these with an offshore alternative.
The difficulty is a QROPS isn't an allowance plan in the sense of setting up a retirement plan or SiPP in the Uk.
A QROPS is rather more like a trust with investment options, line offshore bonds, built in.
Investing in a QROPS is just as risky as staking money anywhere else – QROPS values rise and fall with the market like other investments.
The massive difference is choice and control. A QROPS offers a large range of commodities, equities, currencies and markets and options to take full or part control over investments. Infact, what can be held within a QROPS is maybe infinite
Plenty of the millions delaying retirement are doing so to defer allowances in a bid to extend the value of their funds, asserts UK pension firm LV=, which conducted the survey.
Delaying QROPS drawdown while continuing to work is available too to ex pats. For ex pats, moving money away from the uncertainty of the United Kingdom pensions regime and the continuing politically driven fiddling of successive governments would appear reasonable to investigate – and certainly a QROPS is one doable solution to think about.