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Facebook: @The<strong>Weekender</strong>Spain<br />
FRIDAY 30TH AUGUST 2019 3<br />
A SALTY START<br />
by Alex Trelinski<br />
THOUSANDS of people<br />
lined the streets of Torrevieja<br />
last Saturday afternoon<br />
to see the start of one<br />
of the world’s premier cycle<br />
races, La Vuelta.<br />
The 2019 event opened with<br />
a 13 kilometre team time trial<br />
event, which began from the<br />
city’s famous salt flats, with<br />
the starting ramp made out of<br />
salt, and finishing in in Torrevieja’s<br />
port area.<br />
The race then moved to a<br />
couple of stages further north<br />
in <strong>Alicante</strong> Province on Sunday<br />
and Monday, before going<br />
out of the region.<br />
VOLUNTEER APPEAL<br />
by Alex Trelinski<br />
AGE CONCERN is looking for volunteers<br />
of any age to their join their team<br />
at the charity shop in Torrevieja, as well<br />
as the Day Centre in La Siesta.<br />
All you need is a handful of kindness; a<br />
heaped spoonful of compassion; a nice smiley<br />
face and the ability to chat!<br />
The shop is gearing up for what promises<br />
to be a busy lead up to Christmas, whilst<br />
your role at the Day Centre would be to<br />
welcome visitors, on a Wednesday or Friday<br />
morning for the coffee mornings.<br />
You would help them whether they need<br />
to hire a mobility aid;. need advice or information;<br />
or just having a chat.<br />
If you have a few hours to spare, then<br />
phone 966 786 887 and arrange to pop in<br />
for an informal chat.<br />
Finance Feature<br />
provided by...<br />
What you should expect from<br />
a good financial advisor?<br />
Reduced pension options for non-<br />
UK residents.<br />
I have been advising in Spain now<br />
for over 7 years, and during this time<br />
have seen many changes to pension<br />
rules. The biggest change by far<br />
was the introduction of Pension<br />
freedoms in 2015, where people<br />
now have the option to access their<br />
pension from 55 and essentially<br />
have the flexibility to take what they<br />
want, when they want it.<br />
Pension Freedoms extended to expats<br />
living here in Spain and I have<br />
sat down with hundreds of clients<br />
over the years and discussed their<br />
individual pension plans and advised<br />
them on their options.<br />
About a month ago, I sat down with<br />
a client who had a personal pension<br />
with Aegon. She has lived in Spain<br />
for many years and she contacted<br />
me as she was reaching retirement<br />
age and wanted to understand what<br />
her options were and how she went<br />
about accessing her pension. At<br />
the meeting she completed a letter<br />
of authority which allowed me to<br />
contact her pension company on her<br />
behalf and discuss her specific plan.<br />
When I received the information<br />
back from them I was shocked to<br />
understand that because she is a<br />
‘non-UK resident’ her options were<br />
limited to either take the pension in<br />
full (her pension was over £100k<br />
so the tax implications would be<br />
catastrophic), to purchase an annuity<br />
(something which we wouldn’t<br />
advise with annuity rates so low), or<br />
to transfer to a different scheme. She<br />
had no option to leave her pension<br />
where it was and access it flexibly.<br />
I was convinced that they’d made a<br />
mistake so called them for clarification,<br />
and during the phone call, they<br />
confirmed that the member had<br />
limited options as she was a non-UK<br />
resident.<br />
This member had planned her whole<br />
retirement based on her having<br />
flexible access to her pension, so it<br />
potentially changed her entire future<br />
plans. For this client, I was able to<br />
find a solution by moving her pension<br />
to a UK based pension called<br />
a SIPP, where she could not only<br />
benefit from having a local adviser<br />
here in Spain, but also it meant she<br />
could take advantage of full flexible<br />
access. This is not an isolated<br />
incident, and we’re seeing more and<br />
more schemes effectively refusing<br />
to give ongoing service to non-UK<br />
residents, meaning our only option<br />
is often to transfer them to a scheme<br />
that will allow non-UK residents.<br />
My advice to anyone with a pension<br />
that they are yet to access is to understand<br />
what options are available<br />
By Tracy Storer<br />
Senior Partner<br />
Chorus Financial<br />
to non-UK residents. Whether you<br />
contact the scheme direct, or instruct<br />
a financial adviser to do so, do it<br />
sooner rather than later so you are not<br />
restricted when it comes to accessing<br />
your pension. For more information<br />
or if you would like me to review<br />
your pension call me on 693 107 044<br />
or email t.storer@chorusfinancial.es<br />
Chorus Financial are a trading style of Tourbillon Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services<br />
Commission (Gibraltar), licence Number FSC1118B & registered with the UK FCA, ref. 539348.
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