As regards the idea of transferring your pension fund around through various jurisdictions in the hope of exploiting more favourable rules on early retirement, it's not something I have ever recommended to a client for many reasons, not least of which: -
- Such activities are not regulated by the Central Bank nor do they come under the scope of any investor compensation protection.
- The intermediaries I have seen who promote this are generally based in offshore locations.
- Charges I have seen for this service have been substantial.
So basically, you're entrusting your pension fund to someone you don't know, based in a foreign country, who is not regulated in Ireland and authorising them to move your pension fund through a couple of foreign countries for you.
If that's not enough to put you off, then consider this. The legislation that permits transfers from UK pension funds to other countries (known as QROPS) was designed to facilitate people who had accumulated pension funds while working in the UK and subsequently emigrated. It was never intended to be used as a conduit through which pension funds from other countries could pass. Just because it may be possible now, doesn't mean to say that the UK HMRC or the authorities in another jurisdiction can't later hit you with a tax bill for a transaction that's not in the spirit of the legislation. This whole area is under review all the time. Do a Google search for "QROPS trust busting".
If you're still keen to pursue this course of action, I would strongly recommend that you do the following before parting with your hard-earned pension fund: -
- Do as much research as you can on the intermediary that you're working with.
- Get a detailed breakdown of the total cost of the transaction.
- Get independent advice (as in - not from the intermediary that's trying to sell the service) as regards the legality of the proposed transaction in each country through which your pension fund will pass.
Personally, I wouldn't touch such a transaction with someone else's barge-pole.