Pension Flexibility for International Residents
If you are a non-Isle of Man resident with savings accumulated from various sources, you may wish to consolidate them under one roof in a single tax-efficient pension structure, making use of all allowances available to you.
Specifically designed for international individuals, Freedom provides tax-efficiency, enables investment choice, and allows for nominated beneficiaries to receive your pension fund, if you were to die with a balance in your plan.
The scheme is designed to accept transfers of international pension arrangements and/or the contributions of cash or assets and gives the option to change the currency of your pension fund and your retirement pension, to mitigate against exchange rate volatility. Freedom fully recognises and satisfies the relevant Isle of Man rules, but maximises the opportunities you have as an internationally based tax resident/citizen.
Freedom Key Features:
- Flexible Contributions: Accumulate sufficient retirement savings despite maximum annual pension contribution allowances being restricted (and in some cases, lifetime limits also imposed) in your home jurisdiction. Pay a lump sum or regular contributions, either from you personally or from your employer on your behalf with no restrictions on the level of contributions that you can make and which can be received in the form of cash or via an asset transfer in-specie
- Consolidation of Other Pensions/Assets: You may have the option to transfer existing personal or employer-sponsored international retirement plans and/or existing investments into Freedom to reduce cost and create simplicity for future retirement planning
- No Tax at Source on Growth and Income: Freedom allows you to build up your retirement savings in a tax-free environment, enhancing the growth of your investments. No tax is deducted from your Freedom pension account
- Flexible Benefits and Retirement Age: Freedom can provide you with the choice of either a full 100% lump sum, ad-hoc lump sums, a structured and sustainable drawdown of pension income, or a combination of these benefit options at retirement. Benefits can be taken from age 50 at the earliest, with no upper age limit at which benefits must commence
- Gross Benefit Distributions: All benefit distributions from Freedom, whether paid to you during your lifetime or a beneficiary in the event of your death, are paid without the deduction of any Isle of Man tax at source*
- Succession Planning: Any residual fund within Freedom at the time of your death can be distributed, at the sole discretion of the trustees, taking into account your specific wishes
- Investment Choice: Freedom offers a range of pension investment choices, from simple bank accounts to streamlined platform-based investments
*Although no tax is deducted at source, tax may be levied in your country of residence or home country. It is highly recommended that you seek your own independent tax advice in respect to your specific circumstances.
Freedom is registered as an International Authorised Retirement Benefits Scheme under the Retirement Benefits Schemes Act 2000. Freedom is established under trust in the Isle of Man and Boal & Co (Pensions) Limited is the trustee and Professional Retirement Benefits Schemes Administrator.
While Freedom is open to UK resident/domiciled individuals, this category of individual would be better suited exploring our QNUPS option.
Talk to your adviser, or one of our team to understand more about Freedom and how it could be used as an appropriate retirement savings vehicle for your unique circumstances.
Documentation
Isle of Man
Boal & Co was established in the Isle of Man in 1995 by Gary Boal as an insurance consulting and pension services business, before branching out into pension trusteeship and administration in 1997.
Following the introduction of formal pensions regulation under the Retirement Benefits Schemes Act (2000), Boal & Co (Pensions) Limited became licensed as a Professional Retirement Benefits Schemes Administrator with the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority.
To this day the Island remains as Boal & Co's Headquarters.
The Isle of Man, over the last 25 years, has developed into one of the largest and well-respected international finance centres, attested to by international bodies including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD). With proven success as a strong base for insurance companies, banks, retirement benefit schemes and emerging technologies, the Isle of Man has firmly established itself on the world stage as a globally recognised jurisdiction for international financial services.
Widely regarded as a centre of excellence for pension scheme services, the Isle of Man with its unique, flexible but robust regulation of both domestic and international retirement benefit schemes, offers individuals, companies, multinational corporations and their advisors an unequivocal jurisdiction for retirement savings schemes and pension plans. With several dominant leaders in this sector, the Isle of Man offers all services required by clients and advisors through professional, locally established companies with global reach.
Some of the world’s largest companies have chosen the Isle of Man as a domicile for their expatriate retirement plans, built on the robust yet highly flexible legislation allowing scheme designers to tailor solutions to the requirements of the client.
