• List of all immunisation and medical records.
• Appoint legal guardians for your children if you are out of the country.
• If you’ve sold the car make sure you have advised the transport department that you are no longer the owner.
• Get copies of your childrens curriculum and academic records.
• Do any of your home clubs offer lifetime membership? (useful if you return)
• Can you transfer your pension to a QROPS overseas scheme to save you money?

Free QROPS guide;-

The resulting figures will see the state pension increase a mere £2.40 from next April, half the rise brought about the previous year.

The paltry increase will see pension payments increase from £95.25 to £97.65 per week, which prompted furious outbursts from politicians and Age Concern, whom are lobbying for reform in the UK pensions system.

It is thought that thousands of men and women already over the state retirement age have put off full retirement to earn an extra income for their domestic or QROPS overseas pension.

Organise your finances before departing! You may leave your UK bank accounts open for a while. This helps to preserve your recognition by UK financial institutions and safeguard your credit rating. Cancel standing orders so they are not coming out of your account once you leave. Direct debits are best cancelled around 6 weeks prior to your departure. The main ones are; telephone, satellite television, internet connection, electricity and gas, but there may well be others – check your statements! If the arrival of statements at your old address is your worry then now is the time to switch to online banking and online statements. It will be easier to keep track of transactions from your new home. Sort out any outstanding debts, as no matter where you go you can be found. Should you choose to cancel your credit cards, be sure you obtain a full closing statement.

Inform Official Organisations. You are obliged to let official bodies know that you’re moving. Start with the following: the tax office, the National Insurance Contributions Service and your pension companies. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that you may be eligible for a sizeable tax rebate. Additionally informing the DVLA of your move keeps their records will be up to date with your position and means you may receive part of the Road Fund Licence money should you sell your car and return the tax disks to them. Inform your doctor and dentist so they can arrange hand over files for you to take with you.

Keeping in Touch. Clearly, when you’re saying your farewells you need to collect all contact details of those closest to you. Try to put them all in one address book and keep it safe! Additionally you could put all the information on your laptop, a CD or a memory stick or in a file with the rest of your important paperwork.

Well, let’s look at the public sector first. It’s a widespread belief that the public sector are paid less than the private sector, but make up for this in better working hours, job security and boosted pension funds. On balance, even in today’s uncertain times, what could be safer than a final salary pension fund backed by UK plc? And add to this the fact that they are index linked – the monies paid out will be a fairer reflection of the member’s true, rather than their estimated, cost of living. Unfortunately it’s not as straightforward as it would seem as not all public sector pensions are created equal.

Armed Forces personnel, on the whole, make no financial contributions to their pensions, however the rest of the public sector workforce contribute six to eleven percent of their salary, the rest being made up by the British taxpayer. It has been estimated, by The Pensions Policy Institute, that the total annual bill is £16 billion. The Government have taken steps to lessen this amount; by raising the retirement age of civil servants, teachers and NHS workers’ to 65, but this does not affect those already qualifying for a public sector pension as they are bound by whatever age the scheme was originally set.

For private sector workers, 80% of final salary schemes are not available to new entrants. More worryingly even those in active schemes are not secure, with defined benefits schemes being changed on the grounds of lack of affordability, and being transferred into defined contributions schemes. So it seems that public sector employees may get a better arrangement after all despite the lower wage than their private sector counterparts.

Therefore if you are not willing or able to change career to safeguard a better pension, what can you do to make yours as fruitful as possible? Number 1. Take professional advice about the correct pension for your circumstances 2. Arrange it as soon as possible and finally 3. Contribute the maximum you can.

Free QROPS guide;-

Typical approved investments include government securities, insurance company funds, investment and unit trusts, traded endowment policies, National Savings products and commercial property; the list is by no means comprehensive and different providers will offer and specialise in different investments depending on your personal circumstances and aspirations.

Free QROPS guide;-

You can also save offshore for your pension – and you can do so through a more conventional offshore pension plan such as QROPS. The offshore savings and investment paradigm has dramatically changed in recent years. Its no longer seen as slightly dodgy to have offshore accounts in fact expats who don’t are seen as behind the times.