What happens to my Nest retirement pot if I’m moving abroad?

You can continue to make contributions to your retirement pot even after you’ve left employment. You may also be able to continue contributions if you permanently move overseas. This will depend on the country you are moving to and your employment within that country. Once you’ve moved overseas you can use your online account and make additional contributions towards your retirement pot. You may qualify for tax relief for three years on contributions up to the basic amount of £3,600. Please see How do I check contributions and make additional contributions into my retirement pot? for more information.

You can start using the money in your Nest retirement pot at any point from your 55th birthday. From April 2028, the minimum age will be 57. You can do this even after you permanently move overseas. You can use the money in your retirement pot to get a retirement income from another scheme, a lump sum or mixture of the two. Please see How can I take my money out of Nest at retirement? for more information.

You also have the option to transfer your Nest pot to an overseas pension scheme if it’s a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS). The provider you’re transferring to, may deduct a charge when they receive the transfer payment from Nest. If transferring to an overseas pension scheme an overseas transfer charge may be applicable. Whether you’ll be subject to this charge will depend on where the pension scheme you transfer to is based and what type of scheme it is. It could also apply if you exceed the overseas transfer allowance of £1,073,100 as set by the government. If you’ve taken money from any of your pension pots in the past, it’ll reduce your overseas transfer allowance.

Please see How can I transfer money out of Nest? for more information.