Many of us at least once in their life had dreamed of moving and living in another country, because moving abroad can fundamentally change your life.
In fact, there is a whole list of reasons why people decide to move to another country. No matter what your age, character or social position it’s never too late to make your dream come true.
But let’s look at one of the most important factors that most people don’t think about when moving abroad. Your personal pension. A pension is a type of retirement plan that provides monthly income in retirement. The amount of the pension benefit depends on how long the person has worked and on their annual income.
In order to move your pension to Australia, you must be under age 65 or aged 65 to 74 and have met the “work test” in that financial year.
If you are moving from the country that Australia has made the agreement to share responsibility for social security coverage, it will be a much easier process. The countries that have made an agreement are:
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia , Cyprus , Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand , North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United States of America.
Step 1. Contact the Australian Government, Department of Human Service or Fill in the form online and create “myGov” account
Step 2. Get your documents ready such as financial, study, employment/work, living arrangements, relationships, residence details if you’ve lived outside Australia, childcare and medical.
Step 3. Make your claim in “myGov” account (submit all the documents)
Step 4. Track your claim – pay attention to what is missing or required to provide extra
Step 5. Claim your request
If you are moving from the country that is not listed in the agreement to share responsibility for social security coverage you should request an Independent Pension Consultation in Australia and in your country. The process of moving your pension to Australia differs per country that is not in the list above.
You have to keep in mind that when you transfer your pension you will have to convert the money into the Australian dollars. The first thing that comes in every person’s mind is to use the local bank or any other that a person used to keep their savings or receive money. But it may not be the best solution to do so.
Typically, local banks charge high fees and use not very favorable exchange rates. In order to save money, you can use the foreign exchange providers’ service. Comparing FX providers is extremely important, as only then can you choose the best currency exchange, provider.
On our website of currency providers, you can easily compare up to 4 currency exchange providers at the same time. What you have to do is to fill in the details and relax, because exchange providers will contact you personally!
Don't spend your time and money by comparing local bank fees for currency exchange