Combining the proceeds of a UK fund with Irish

I have a smallish UK DB scheme for which I have been offered £230,000 stg to buy out of. I've been told that's good value. I'm entitled to draw benefits in about 8 months time so I may need to make a decision soon. There is the option to delay benefits by a year for which a multiplier of 1.07 applies.

I have about €540,000 in Irish DC schemes so if I combine the two it neatly comes to around €800k.

My question is if I accept the UK buyout option, can I add the payout to the value of my Irish DC funds, calculate my TFLS on the combined total and then buy an Irish annuity (or ARF) with the remaining 75% of the total? I know that whatever scheme I go into, it has to be a QROPS.

For any Irish annuity I will not be selecting escalation so I know I'll be missing out on about 2% annual increase on the foregone indexing on the DB scheme plus any surviving spouse/ children benefit, but these are immaterial.

Thanks in advance.

Is the U.K. DB pension being wound up? Have you paid for your U.K. DB pension analysis yet?

Marc said:

Is the U.K. DB pension being wound up? Have you paid for your U.K. DB pension analysis yet?

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Hi Marc - No not being wound up and the scheme is in credit according to the last circular - Its the Aviva scheme. I've had two buy out offers (latest value is as above) which didn't cost anything. I believe I'm entitled to one every 12 months. Maybe you are referring to the compulsory financial advice that I must get before the funds are released - In which case no I've not done that yet. From what I hear it's a standard set of questions just to prove that I understand the difference between a DB and a DC scheme...and for which I may have to pay up to £2000 plus VAT!

Ok. There’s a bit more to it than that.

I’d suggest booking an appointment with the U.K. money helper service which is an essential step to any of your options in any event since the introduction of the latest anti-fraud legislation.

They will be able to provide you with some good quality guidance on your U.K. pension without incurring any costs.

Marc said:

Ok. There’s a bit more to it than that.

I’d suggest booking an appointment with the U.K. money helper service which is an essential step to any of your options in any event since the introduction of the latest anti-fraud legislation.

They will be able to provide you with some good quality guidance on your U.K. pension without incurring any costs.

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Thanks for responding again Marc. My original question is more to do with the rules in Ireland once I’ve converted the DB scheme into cash (or a DC fund). Will the UK money helper service help with that?