Hi Clive,

Many thanks for your message.

We haven't received any pension information yet, although some is expected soon.  The authority and information request letter was sent a few weeks ago and it can take up to six weeks for the first set of information to arrive.

My colleague Christine has been following everything up, so we should start to receive pension information soon.

The next step is for me to go through the information and check all questions were answered, and follow up if not.

Once we have all of the information, new pension research will be undertaken and our formal advice and recommendations documented in a report to you.

At the time the report is sent, I will also send applications and documentation for the new pension, plus full instructions for completion and return.

We are still really at the start of the process, but rest assured we haven't forgotten about you and chasing is taking place at least once a week.

If you have any further queries or would like updates, please just let me know.

Best wishes

Jo

Mrs Joanne Roberts-Clark

Director, Chartered Financial Planner

E: jo@financialadvice.net

T: 01637 838262

Dear Clive

I suggest you give the DWP International Pension Centre a call on +44 (0) 191 218 7777 to find out whether you have 34 years or 30 years and of course on that part year, rather than wasting money and putting in too much.

Ashley

Dear Clive,

Thank you very much for updating the document.  Everything is perfectly clear now.

I'll pass a copy of the document to Ashley, ready for your call tomorrow.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Jo

Hi Clive,

Thank you for uploading all of the documents.  I've had a look and they are great.

The only exception is the fact find document, which does need to be completed in more depth please.

As advisers, we are required by our regulators to "know our client", so that we can give accurate and suitable advice.  For you, that is advice to review and transfer your Aviva pension to one that offers Flexi Access Drawdown.

We must be able to satisfy ourselves that you can afford to take the action proposed and that your standard of living will not be adversely affected by you withdrawing some or all of the Aviva pension value, once transferred.

It is also helpful for us to have background information about you, which we use for picture building and for tailoring the recommendations to your personal situation.

To help you, the most important information required is as follows:

Personal

You said you are single, so should we assume you do not have a partner and also no children or financial dependents?

If you have children, just their first names and ages will be sufficient.

Residence and Domicile

Were you born in the UK to a UK born father?  If not, where were you born and where was your father born?

How long did you live in the UK?

When did you move to Thailand and have you been there ever since?

Do you have any plans to leave Thailand to move elsewhere?

Occupation

When did you retire from work and what was your previous occupation?  Did you work in the UK or Thailand or elsewhere?

Assets and Investments

This information is important, so could you please provide as much detail as possible.  We don't need to know the ins and outs of what you have and where, but (for example) that your main residence is a rented property and you don't own any other property in the UK or Thailand. 

Basic values in bank accounts and savings is fine, including whether that is in the UK or Thailand.

Any life insurance or protection policies you have, what they are, how much you are covered for and when they expire.

Income

As you are retired, do you have any income at all such as from pensions (if you were able to draw it before 55), savings or investments?  If you do not have any income, what money do you use to cover your expenditure?  What pensions are you likely to have in the future, when and how much?  How will you cover your outgoings until pensions come into payment?

Are you expecting a full UK State pension when you reach State pension age?

Expenses

If you don't have a list of your regular / usual expenses, can you confirm what the total is per month please?  For this amount, is it just for essential bills, food etc or does it include other expenses such as holidays and travel?

How much money are you likely to need on a monthly basis during retirement, accepting you are already retired?

How long are you expecting your Aviva pension to last for?  By that I mean how much are you likely to want to withdraw from the pension once it has been transferred and will that be as a lump sum or on a monthly basis?

Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney

Have you made a Will in the UK or Thailand?  If so, when was it made and broadly who are the beneficiaries of your estate? 

Have you made Lasting Powers of Attorney in the UK or the equivalent in Thailand?  If so, who are your attorneys (e.g.  brother, sister, friend etc)?

Investment Risk

Ashley will discuss this with you during your call tomorrow, so you don't need to provide any information before the call.

Hopefully i've helped a bit in terms of focusing on the information we need.  But, if you are struggling, please complete what you can and then talk through the rest with Ashley tomorrow.

Kind Regard

Jo

Mrs Joanne Roberts-Clark APFS

Director, Chartered Financial Planner

Tel: 01637 838260

Email: jo@financialadvice.net

Dear Clive,

Thank you for uploading your documents this morning.  I have downloaded and checked them all.

If you have documents that show your address in Thailand, they would be helpful, particularly for the new pension provider.  They will have an enhanced due diligence process, as you are not UK resident.

For example, a recent bank statement (showing your name and address and account details, dated within the last 3 months). 

Also, a recent UK bank statement for the account any pension withdrawals will be made to.  This needs to show your name and address and account details, dated within the last 3 months.

Also, a copy of your Thai driving licence or residence card if you have them. 

Also, a utility bill or rental agreement documnt showing your name and address.

The only other document we need is your completed fact find and ESG questionnaire.  If you have no strong views about ethical and ESG investing, then just the completed fact find is required.

Once we have all of the documents from you, you should book another call with Ashley please.  He will go through your completed fact find and discuss the work to be done for your pensions in much more depth.  Ashley will also discuss your plans for withdrawing money from the pension and your attitude towards investment risk.

There is a link on the top menu bar to 'Book A Call', which I think you have used before.

If you have any queries, please just let me know.  Thank you again for deciding to work with us, it is much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Jo

Mrs Joanne Roberts-Clark APFS

Director, Chartered Financial Planner

Tel: +44 1637 838260

Email: jo@financialadvice.net

Dear Chris

Thank you for your note and thank you for deciding to use our services.

Use your Thailand address and put the UK address in the notes please.

I look forward to receiving the same and talking with you again.

Ashley

Good afternoon David,

Thank you very much for sending the Legal & General information. 

By way of an update for you, the final information chasing about your pensions has gathered pace somewhat, with lots of information being received.

I am confident we are almost there and I should be able to start the pre-retirement review for you within the next few weeks.

My colleague Paula has been off work since mid-December, needing a third operation.  With her being senior and unable to work, my time has mostly been taken up with essential administration that Paula would usually do.  The very good news is that she has recovered enough to come back to work in about a week's time.  That will free my time up to progress client advice reports, including yours.

Thank you for your patience so far, it has been rather a long haul!

Very best wishes

Jo

Good Morning David,

A very Happy New Year to you.

In terms of the report, I am still waiting for information, particularly from Mercer for your MMC pension.  Christine was battling with them yesterday. 

She had re-requested information on the 8th December 2022, only to receive 2 parts of what was outstanding late last week.  The work has now been escalated and should be received within 5 to 10 working days.

Over the festive period when our offices were closed, I received a lot of the outstanding information from Aviva, Legal & General and ReAssure.  I need to go through all of that to check and load it, to ensure nothing else is outstanding.

We are almost there with the information gathering, which is good news.

Whilst writing, thank you for letting me know about your other pensions that are now in payment. 

For the completeness of the pre-retirement review report, it would be helpful to know which pensions you have in payment, the date each one started, whether they are defined benefit, defined contribution or annuity and all of the gross and net amounts you receive each month. 

Also, if they are level in payment or escalating (and by what percentage) and any spouse / dependant benefits included. 

Also, the amount of any tax free cash lump sums you received and the percentage of the Lifetime Allowance used by each pension.

If you could send all of this through to me when you have time, i'll take account of it in the report, when doing income and Lifetime Allowance calculations.

Very best wishes to you.

Jo

Dear David,

Thank you for your message and for uploading the Aviva document.

I have downloaded the document and will speak to Aviva to remind them that we are in the process of reviewing your pensions in your approach to retirement. 

Ashley and and I have been away from the office this week with family in the Midlands, with hospital and doctor appointments.  We're travelling back to Newquay this morning and will be back in the office this afternoon.  Whilst we have been away, I received more pension information from your providers that needs to be checked, so I can see what is still outstanding. 

My aim is to have all information checked and outstanding information followed up with the providers by the end of next week.  I will give you a full update at the same time, with an estimate of when the pre-retirement review report will be put together and sent to you.  My aim is to get it completed as soon as possible, given your retirement date with Aviva being set to the end of December 2022.

I will be back in touch as soon as I can.

Kind regards

Jo

Dear David,

Thank you for your message, which I've made a note of for the Pre-Retirement Review report.  I've also downloaded a copy of the letter from ReAssure and will add it to the other documents received for checking and using in the report.

Have a lovely weekend and best wishes.

Jo

David

No problem then.  Like I say, it is perfectly legal for someone to sell a property below market value.  You can sell your house for £1 if you want. 

Ashley

David

If you believe there is potentially a money laundering issue then both you and your daughter have a legal duty to report it as you are personally responsible and liable for not reporting suspected money laundering.  Only you know the boyfriend, I do not, does he move in 'dodgy' circles etc., or is this a genuine gift?  Like I say, take legal advice to protect your daughter.

Ashley

Dear David

Sorry for the delayed reply.  We have been away on holiday.

Thank you for the info on your pensions, all duly noted.

Regarding your daughter:

This may present minor issues for her re: If she plans to have a mortgage too, lenders would want assurances that boyfriend has no further interest, will not place a charge over the property etc if he is selling at £100k below market value.  For her though, it is good news buying a house below market value.  I think she should also take legal advice on this as 1.  For inheritance tax issues for boyfriend, as he is technically making a gift of £100k of value to her, 2.  Are there ramifications for Stamp Duty avoidance issues if paying below market value? 3.  Are there ramifications for boyfriend in possibly avoiding capital gains tax if this is an investment property?

It is legal to sell a property for whatever price you wish to, you just need to check whether any issues above could 'come back and bite her'.

Best wishes

Ashley

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for uploading the extra documents.  I've downloaded them now and passed them over to Ashley for him to do a quick once over, regarding what you have and your optionis. 

Ashley will be in touch again soon.

Kind Regards

Jo

Dear Sarah

Thank you for the uploads, I look forward to the remaining (if they send through).

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Sarah

Thank you for the secure pension document uploads.  I will have a read through over the weekend to see what I think.

Have a great weekend.

Ashley.

Dear Sarah

Thank you for your message all received and we will process this when applications in and will organise sending details over to set up Gold and payment details.

On the quick 'once over' of your pensions, could please send copies of your latest pension statements and other info you have on them in addition to the spreadsheet already sent, so that I can take a quick look at funds and charges.

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Sarah

Pension document received safely.  Thank you.

Ashley

Dear Sarah

Thank you for all the document uploads.  I will digest all later today.  In the meantime, can you please book in for another call back so that we can go through the two questionnaires, discuss various points and fill out any 'blanks' if needed.

Call Back 

https://www.financialadvice.net/book_a_call_back_with_a_financial_adviser/diary/764

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Ashley

Hi Bill

You were due an update but pension providers are so slow at present.  They have all sent some information but not all that we requested this week.  A real pain that they do not send back the full information that we requested and then it takes hours on hold to get through to them.  My staff are chasing the oustanding items as I write with a view to either Jo or myself giving you a full update by close of business on Friday.

Rest assured that we are moving as fast as we can but we are at the mercy of pension companies not respsonding to enquiries in full and then not having the infrastructure to work remotely (during lockdown) and doing the job both accurately and in a timely manner.

My 'rottweilers', as I call them, are chasing them down this week.

Best wishes and a full update to follow later this week.

Ashley

Dear Bill

Fact find safely received - thank you.  We will need to book you in and talk this through to fill out any blanks.  Please can you book a call back when convenient for you and I will set up another video link call.

Book A Call Back With A Financial Adviser : Contact Us : roberts clark IFAs: celebrating 20yrs of online financial advice

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Val

Thank you for your message - all documents uploaded successfully.  They may have looked funny at your end as you did not give a title to each document - no problems though - happy to confirm safe receipt of 3 docs.

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Bill

Firtsly, a Happy New Year to you in the crazy world right now.

Postal documents have not arrived yet - a few problems with the new vaccine strain here and flights being cancelled into UK from all over the World - so post is delayed but starting to flow again now.

I sent you an email a few days ago (5th Jan) re your uploads just before Christmas as follows:

"Dear Bill

You uploaded documents to our system just before the Christmas break and unfortunately we cannot download or open them at this end.  I have checked with my web technical team and they suggest that it may be something to the with ‘mime’ configuration for iOS (if that is what you are using).  To quote my techies “Closer inspection shows a mime type for all 3 documents as "inode/x-empty".  It appears this is a common problem with iOS.  Currently the upload does not handle this mime type but research shows there are some additional checks I can put in place to correct the situation.”

Is it possible to email me those images that you uploaded so that I can cross check what error iOS is pumping into the images/uploads?

If not, can you upload in a different format or indeed pdf?

Sorry to be a pain Bill."

I hope this brings you up to date - I can only imagine my email to you got spammed out/in junk file?

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Val

That may change everything as drawdown offers no such thing as a guarantee whereas buying an annuity does (and much cheaper on fees).  I suggest we have another chat to get this clear on what is in your best interests.

Please can you book another call back to suit you via:

Book A Call Back With A Financial Adviser : Contact Us : roberts clark IFAs: celebrating 20yrs of online financial advice

and we can talk again.

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Loraine

Thank you for the ATO upload, all as we expected then.  Jo has some info in from RL and will update you shortly.

Best wishes

Ashley

Dear Loraine

We know what the problem is, it is to do with file size and it is a server problem (not our websites).  We are still waiting for our server company wher eour website is hosted to rectify there settings to allow larger files upload, which they do for videos that we upload but weirdly, not for files.

I will come back to you when sorted.

Best wishes

Ashley