[toby/lisa]

Hi Everybody

I have a few questions regarding money matters while we are in NZ for a minimum of 6 months - going Feb 28th 07 (hoping to stay as we intend to find jobs as soon as we arrive - winging it as they say). :D

Q1 - Going to a financial advisor at the Halifax to discuss what account we are going to keep our £50k - joint money (plus maybe another £150k as well), he suggested a PIP (Personal Investment Plan), and take £26k with us to keep us going with money matters while we are out there, do you think that is too much? and what do you think of PIP, safe financially? :uhoh

Q2 - Do you think it would be a good idea to join our bank accounts into 1 (i.e all my HSBC, Halifax) accts into one and hubbs does the same for him, or totally mad? :no

Q3 - Claim Tax back on savings accounts at the end of the year - does this only happen when your resi?

Q4 - Personal Pension - I think I was told that I can only keep my personal pension in the UK for 6 months if going to NZ, is that true? or can I keep it going as a personal pension or do i have to re-invest?

Q5 - Presume can still keep shares going while out of the UK?

Q6 - Child Trust Fund - can I keep this fund going while I am away or even if I stay in nZ ( I presume no, if staying in NZ?)

Q7 - How easy is it to set up NZ back account, do I just set one up via the internet with Bank of NZ or can I go into HSBC local bank and set up through them, little confused, but I am sure very simple, doh!

Sorry, about questions ,but brain buzzin and just want to make sure I money is working and safe while we are away, setting up.

Replies would be VERY mush appreciated.. :)

[PECJ]

Just my own thoughts - you have to decide really, but I'm in the same situation and another opinion is always welcome.

Q1 - I don't know whether £26k will be enough. However I assume you are therefore leaving £24K behind. I don't know what type of investment vehicle a PIP is (stock market based, cash (ie bank/building society based) or something else). If you are going to go for a minimum of 6 months and hope to stay longer it is quite possible that you need the cash earlier (house deposit for example). I would be tempted to stay away from a stock market based investment and stick with cash - more security over a short term. Perhaps a 30-60 day notice account. Check "moneysavingexpert.com" for example rates (there is also an article on transferring money abroad). Have you used you ISA allowance this year - if not there £3k each to start.

For the PIP why was he recommending this - what are his commission costs?

Q2. I don't see a problem with joint accounts - easier to manage from afar (by internet etc).

Q3. You should be able to claim your over-payment of tax in a tax return at the end of the year. (I suspect that you will have to tax because you will not have been out of the country for more than 6 months). There is a migrants tax helpline somewhere which I will be using later, but haven't found it yet. Dept for Work and Pensions (DWP) website may be a starting point.

Q4. You can keep contributing to a STAKEHOLDER pension for upto 5 years after you leave (and I assume get the tax back on the investments) so I don't see why you should have to seel up straight away. There are rules on what type of account you can export you pension to when you do decide to move it. Some companies claim that you will be able to cash your pension in, I don't see the point - it wouldn't be a pension (ie saving for retirement) then! We are going to leave my wife's for 5 year and then transfer it to a NZ pension. (I think).

Q5. I don't see why you can't keep them.

Q6. Don't know - may be DWP might be able to help.

Q7. There are threads on the subject of setting up bank account on this forum. We set one up at the London Expo (not that that is much help to you).

JUST my ramblings and if anyone disagree please say so because I have had trouble finding out some independent information

[gpbenton]

I can't help you with the investment side, but I did go to HSBC to ask about setting up an account in New Zealand. They sent me a pack, along with a cover letter saying the fee was £100 as I didn't have a premier account in the UK.

So I have started to open an account with Westpac. Filling out the forms was easy, but I haven't had a reply yet, so I can't personally recommend them.

I have subsequently received another letter from HSBC saying this fee doesn't apply. I'm not sure if the original letter was a genuine mistake, but if you try HSBC and get this response I would query it immediately.

[willowshouse]

When we came over for a 6 month visit we brought over an initial lump sum (£10K maybe?) by wiring it to a trusted friend in NZ but after that we drew money out from our UK Nationwide account. The exchange rate is good, there are no fees to pay (unlike other bank's cards) and it gives you flexibility as you don't have to decide how much to bring and possibly bring too much/not enough.

If you decide to stay in NZ and the interest rate picks up you'd probably be better off bringing your money over here. Our standard NBNZ savings account pays 7% interest - it took me minutes to set up, after we had set up a cheque account which took about half an hour. I'm sure if you look around you could get an even better rate than that ....

Dawn

[markmurphy]

I can't help you with the investment side, but I did go to HSBC to ask about setting up an account in New Zealand. They sent me a pack, along with a cover letter saying the fee was £100 as I didn't have a premier account in the UK.


I just had the same responce from a lady at HSBC. Not a premier customer (i.e. sticnkingly rich) and so £100 please. I did quiery it with her but she was adamant. I am now checking with HSBC NZ who I would imagine might be more helpful. The woman at HSBC UK did say that I could walk into a branch in NZ and open an account for free. £100 seems a bit steep for an administration charge!

[speckythecky]

If you consider that they charge £35 to send you a letter from UK to UK, £100 to set up a new bank account in a different country isn't really that bad.

Joking aside, There are cheaper ways of opening accounts and as was said earlier, Westpac allow you to arrange everything before you go. All you need to do is go into a branch when you get to NZ to pick up bank cards etc.

[Angelonthemove]

We came over with cash and openned a back account the day we arrived with ASB got switch/debit cards with pin numbers there and then.

The other option if you have credit cards is to load some onto to that, so you can pay for all your expenses with that until you are sorted. Bring in only half the cash saves on transer fees etc.

Not sure how much cash each person is allowed to carry into the country. customs searched my bag and said nothing to the large envelope of money but do declare on your plane form you get. Not everyone is happy carrying cash around though. We had around £15k with us on the trip divided between the 2 of us.

[Tia Maria]

This is another company that allows you to set up from the UK:

www.migrantbanking.co.uk/moving_to_new_zealand

One advantage to having multiple bank accounts in the UK, as long as you're not paying for them, is it allows more flexibility for when things go wrong. For instance we discovered we couldn't do various internet transaction with Nationwide because of our modem so it was good to have access to another bank. Also set up internet banking for them all if you haven't already.

Once you are no longer considered UK residents you will need to let your banks/shares/CTF etc know. Most banks will let you keep your accounts, some don't.

My advice would be to spend a night typing letters to everyone explaining your situation exactly. This way you'll have everything in writing - I can't tell you how often I've been given the wrong advice about these things over the phone and its backfired and I've had trouble accessing my money. If you save all the letters on your computer you can use them as a template later when you have to inform everyone of your change of address.

I've kept shares going, I just informed Llyods Registrars of my new address when I got it. For the ones in ISAs I informed the company and they said I could continue to hold them but not contribute to them after the tax year was finished. I informed the CTF and they allowed me to keep the money but I had to avise the bank it was held with.

But just to emphasize again I wrote to all these people to inform them of our plans.

So crack open a bottle of wine and get typing .....:D

Cheers

Tia