Spain has become a popular destination for Brits looking for a nicer, and warmer lifestyle.

While some wait until retirement age before making the move, many go at a much younger age. However quite often they leave behind a series of financial products such as pension savings plans. For many this can be an important and valuable assets, providing an income in retirement and in some cases allowing people to achieve some financial goals in their mid fifties.

The problem is how do you get the information you need and then take the necessary action when you are many miles from home. That is where we come in . . . .

We can deal with you by email and telephone and when the time comes to take action we will do most of the liaison and form filling for you. We then send you all the relevant paperwork so you can check it and make sure you are happy with it. All you then have to do is sign the appropriate forms and return them to us. We take care of everything else.

A full range of pension planning options are available to you. You may qualify for an impaired annuity, if so we can get you quotes from those providers offering enhanced annuity rates either due to impaired medical circumstances or simply because you are a smoker. If you are a regular drinker of Rioja, San Miguel or many of the other drinks of your adopted country, that may also qualify you for an enhanced annuity.

You may have reached the point where you don’t need a regular income but would benefit from taking a Tax Free lump sum from your pension. We can help you obtain a pension lump sum, as well as work with you over the longer term to ensure that the remaining fund is managed in line with your attitude to risk.

You may have simply reached the stage where you are in excellent health, enjoying your home in Spain and now wish to receive a regular annuity from your pension.

Whatever your circumstances we can help you. We do all the administration work for you and keep you informed of progress every step of the way. We have the regulatory permission to deal with UK customers in Spain.

We can normally get quotes and information packs to you within 24 hours, sometimes much quicker. In the case of enhanced annuities the process can take a bit longer. We will typically need to talk to you to go through some detailed medical questions which we then place before the various underwriters who offer enhanced annuities. It can take 3 – 4 days before they all come back to us, but the enhanced annuity quotes are based on your exact medical circumstances and are not based on a computerised estimate.

If you decide to do business with us we will do all the pension administration work for you, including completing all the forms required by your existing pension provider and your new provider. We will check with the various providers that progress is being made and keep you updated throughout. As the feedback from our customers demonstrates, you can sit back and relax while we do all the work for you.

You should always bear in mind that the tax situation in Spain may conflict with some UK Tax rules. Spain and the UK have a reciprocal tax agreement otherwise known as a Double Taxation agreement. Ironically this doesn't mean that you are taxed twice but rather both countries will allow you to chose one country to be the country where you pay tax on all your worldwide income and assets.

There is no reciprocal tax agreement between the UK and Gibraltar.

In all cases it is your responsibility to understand and comply with any tax jurisdiction appropriate to you. Further details about the UK's Double Taxation agreements with Spain can be found on the HMRC Website.

There are a number of features that you may want to include within your annuity or any alternative retirement product. It should be remembered that as you add features to your annuity, the amount paid in monthly income is likely to go down, but you may consider some features too important to leave out.

Depending on your circumstances we may need your co-operation in completing some aspects of the transaction. If you have a UK bank account and still have a property in the UK then you may need to do nothing extra.

In some circumstances you may need to present yourself and some standard documents to a local Notarie, Solicitor or other recognised Legal professional who can verify your identity.

Annuity Rates

While the annuity providers will not give you a lower annuity rate simply because you now live in Spain, you should remember that if you are now retired in an idyllic countryside location you may get a lower rate as the underwriter may consider that your life expectancy is significantly greater than somebody who lives in the center of a city - How bad that ?!!!