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| Smart Currency Exchange Newsletter |
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| Hello!
How are you? It’s almost May – can you believe we’re 5 months into the year already. I wonder how many New Years’ resolutions are still being upheld!!! I decided to make a bit of a late resolution - to be better with plants. Up until now I had trouble keeping them alive and have also been known to kill cress (yes… it is possible)! The year before last I spent ages planting various bulbs and when spring came, nothing came up… Every time I tell that story, someone responds, “You must have planted the bulbs up-side-down.” Is it possible to plant EVERY bulb the wrong way? Anyway, this year has been different. A few weeks ago I looked out of my window to see daffodils actually growing. So now the plan is to move on to bigger things! Any advice would be very welcome! We have had this
month’s prize draw for the £250 M&S vouchers, so have
a look below to see if it is you! If you are unaware of our Smart refer-a-friend
competition, it is a monthly draw we hold for people who have referred
their friends/ family/ colleagues to us in order for them to also benefit
from our service. So if you know of anyone, then please email me their
details at: This month’s eNewsletter includes the following: - M&S Vouchers Winner - How to Avoid Troubles Relocating Overseas - Come Meet Charles Purdy and Ann Charles - Your Stories: by Smart Client David Axon - Currency Update - Smart Client Feedback Please send me YOUR stories about buying overseas any time. If you have any information on what to do, what not to do, tips things to look out for, how to plan for a purchase and anything else that you’d like to share with the Smart community, then send them to: mailto:Rebecca@SmartCurrencyExchange.com Please remember to recommend us to your friends – they will be so pleased that you did! Until next month - think Smart, Becks |
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M&S Vourchers WinnerThe winner of this months prize draw is: John Graham Inman! CONGRATULATIONS – Your £250.00 worth of Marks & Spencer Vouchers will be sent in the post recorded delivery, so please keep a look out for them! If you’d like to win £250.00 please send me the name and contact details of anyone you know that is planning to buy an overseas property and your name will be entered in the draw. |
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Avoid troubles in relocating abroadThere is a huge number of Smart clients that are emigrating – seems like half of the UK is interested in leaving! At Smart many of our clients often ask us for help to find mortgage brokers, Independent Financial Advice, Insurance and all sorts that services that go hand-in-hand with buying an overseas property. Fortunately for us, Antony Howard, a fantastic IFA, has provided Smart with some information about relocation. In this newsletter, I’ve included part one that discusses pensions, the inflation trap and benefits. In the next newsletter I’ll send out the rest of the information, dealing with tax and healthcare. I hope you find this helpful! “The dream of moving abroad is fast becoming a reality for more and more British people approaching retirement. According to life assurer Prudential, the most popular places for Brits to retire are Spain, Australia and France, followed by the US, Canada, South Africa and Cyprus. But people who plan to decamp lock, stock and barrel need to examine the tax, pensions, health and property implications. Pensions First things first: the UK state pension, the foundation of your retirement income strategy. You are still entitled to your basic state pension when you retire abroad, as long as you have paid the requisite National Insurance contributions. Special provisions apply to those whose pension calculations are part-based or widely based on periods of residence in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. You will usually be sent a claim form by the Pensions Service some months before you reach UK pensionable age. It will ask for details of any periods of residence and state insurance you have in other countries. If you are living in any European Economic Area country and claim a pension from that country, the UK Pension Service will pass details of your claim to any other EEA country where you have been insured. Contact the Pensions Service from overseas if you are less than four months from state pension age and have not received a claim pack (www.thepensionservice.gov.uk). If you are already overseas and want to obtain a pension forecast, contact HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) (www.hmrc.gov.uk). You can also request a state pension forecast, which will tell you the amount you have earned already and the amount you can expect on retirement. The inflation trap If you receive the UK pension whilst living in an EU or EEA country you will receive an index-linked pension, which will increase in line with inflation. But while a state pension can be paid outside the EU/EEA area you may not receive these increases. Check with the International Pension Centre (see contacts). UK pensioners who have retired to popular destinations such as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have not received index-linked payouts in recent years. You will no longer pay UK tax on pension income if you live in a country that has a double taxation treaty with the UK. Where there is no such agreement, your pension will usually be subject to the UK tax before it is paid and you will need to contact your local tax office to ensure it does not aggregate tax. Finally, if you have pension funds that are not yet in payment (unvested) some jurisdictions will tax the growth on the investments in these funds unless they are transferred into a pension arrangement approved by those jurisdictions. Benefits If you are receiving long-term incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance or widow’s benefit, these may continue to be claimed while resident in another EU member state, provided you satisfy the conditions. It is also possible to receive a widow’s pension, industrial injuries benefits and war pensions abroad. If you have been receiving attendance allowance or disability living allowance since before 01 June 1992, you may be able to continue to receive the benefit if you move to another EU/EEA member state. Otherwise, entitlement to these benefits will cease.” *** In the mean time,
if you’re interested in talking to someone about pensions, tax
planning, setting up finance or anything to do with the financial/tax
side of moving overseas, please send me an eMail with your contact details
and I’ll ask Antony to contact you directly.
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Event - Come meet Charles Purdy and Ann CharlesSmart would like to invite you to attend The London Property Network on Tuesday 8th May at Selfridges Hotel, Orchard Street, London W1 and meet the speakers from The TV House Doctor, plus Tina Jesson and Jim Halliburton from Property Millionaire by HMO. Places are limited to 200 people and they will go quickly… If you book your place today and enter “SMART” when booking in the space called 'Quote Number' and you will receive a complimentary ticket for a friend: http://www.easyukproperty.com/lpn Charles Purdy and Ann Charles from Smart Currency Exchange Ltd will be attending the show, and they’d love to meet you, so please come if you’re interested in property investment and/or speaking with Charles or Ann. |
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Your Stories: by Smart Client David AxonThis story gave me a nice giggle, so thank you Dave! Rebecca, “Thanks for the update. Well, my first transfer went very well thank you, so I am no longer a Smart virgin (shouldn't that be a Smug virgin?). This was the second deposit on my little house in Andalucia, or Andalusia depending on which Spanish wine you are drinking. I am now trying to source a mortgage to secure the property in case I can't sell my UK house in time (I would then lose all deposits and the house - a scary thought). I am also becoming an expert in Spanish conveyancing and inheritance law, which has some interesting facets. If I do get a Spanish
mortgage and the UK house sells (large if), then I plan to keep the
mortgage running when I "retire" to Spain, invest the capital
from the UK house to This will keep me in Rioja and paella ingredients until my first crops come in (large, but not perfectly formed garden is to become my veg plot). After that I'll get couple of chickens or three, a Nubian goat (I always wanted a Nubian goat - don't ask), some ducks, geese for a burglar alarm, a donkey in case I can't afford a car and not one of those raffia ones, either (donkey, not car – raffia cars are not good on mountain roads, b.....s the suspension) and possibly another dog (long story and this one's already reaching epic proportions). Oh, I forgot, then I will be on the lookout for a dusky Spanish maiden, preferably with her own teeth and the ability to carry large bundles of twigs on her back. Twigs are very useful in Spain - especially for patching up the donkey... Regards, Dave” Please send me YOUR story and perhaps I’ll send it out in my next broadcast: mailto:Rebecca@SmartCurrencyExchange.com
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Euro vs Sterling The Euro/sterling rate has hovered around 1.47 – 1.475 inter bank for the last week or so. The Euro land economy is moving forward. Germany is the mainstay as it has finally got to grips with entering the Euro at too high a rate. Given the size of the German economy, where it goes the rest of Euro land tends to follow. Inflation in the UK has breached the 3% level and as such the Bank of England was forced to write a letter to the Chancellor, friend to all, Gordon Brown. As a result the market is bullish on more than one interest rate increase of 0.25% happening before a peak in UK interest rates is reached. Likely to hover around current levels until we see what the respective central banks do with interest rates. US$ vs. Sterling The US$ hit 26 year highs against the US$ when it passed through US$2/£1. The US$ has now pulled back to just under 2. The market is beginning to believe that the next move in US interest rates will be downwards. Logic would dictate that this should be bad for the US$. However, markets sometimes defy logic and the market may perceive this as good for the US economy and hence for the US$. We wait and see.
PLEASE give us a call if you need to exchange and transfer money anywhere overseas. We will be able to save you quite a bit of money AND make it a heck of a lot easier than using the bank. Call Smart today
to see how much you can save on: 0808 163 0102 or |
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| Testimonial Brian Watson, Glasgow
Cheryl Parker, Kent For more testimonials on the Smart service, please go to: http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/testimonials.htm
Think Smart, Rebecca Stubbs Smart Currency Exchange |