Keith5588

Thank you @UKresonant I like the basket for each egg analysis. And thank you @Oliver Holzerfilled

Thank you @BritManToo that's good information. I will either contact Hargreaves-Lansdown or Interactive Investor.

Thank you @Oliver Holzerfilled A good read. I still have not fully decided except that I need to move the money from my old pension funds. Annuity rates are up at the moment but I could also move all the money to a SIPP and take a regular draw down. I have made an appointment for tomorrow morning to have a 1 hour phone chat with a UK government person from Pension Wise.

Thank you for the clear advice @Liverpool Lou To clarify some other committments. I have no children, no immediate family at all in the UK. I have transferred all my cash ISA money into stocks and shares and feel that is enough exposure to the stock market. The only person I want to protect if I die is my Thai gf / partner and I have already made sure that she will be OK. I started a level annuity when I left work in 2009 giving me £400 per month. It's nice to have a monthly garranteed income with no action needed. Thanks again.

Hi, I have had help from people in this forum in the past and am very grateful for that. After spending nearly 8 years in Thailand I have arrived back in the UK 12 days ago to sell my house and sort some financial stuff including my Money Purchase Private Pensions funds. I have 3 separate funds with different Insurance companies but they are all similar, quite old and I think with profit schemes. Adding all 3 I have a total of about £300,000. I have contact details for all 3. My original plan was to contact a SIPP provider and move all 3 to this but now I am thinking of buying an annuity as the annuity rates are quite good and I want things to be simple in the future. So take 25% tax free lump sum and buy an annuity with the rest. My question what is the best way to go about doing this? Do I need or would it be wise to have an Independent Financial Advisor help me? If so would they charge me a fee? Or could I just look on the internet to find the Insurance company offering the best annuity rate, contact them, and they would do all the processing, hopefully for free? Any help much appreciated. Thanks in advance Keith PS I will be 72 next month and am looking forward to spending the rest of my life relaxing in Thailand with minimum financial decisions.

I just had another look on the internet, some firms want you to register first which at the moment I don't want to do. I had a look at https://www.airporttaxis-uk.co.uk/Norwich#booking The lowest cost is £31 after a £3 discount for a saloon car. £43 for an executive car. I accept that I initially was not investigating totally correct but I also have doubts that it would be as low as about £7. When I initially looked I saw some prices as in CharlieH message but only if over 10 miles. I will ask after I arrive at Norwich airport and if in the region of £10 may take a taxi but I also don't mind walking, people pay to do similar exercises in a gym 🙂 @Denim concerning buses, could you not have paid for 2 people with your debit card? Thanks for your messages, it has been helpful.

Thanks a lot @Keeps The norwichairport URL you have given may be useful, I have saved it. Thanks for the suggestion about the buses but they would be taking me further away from my house. It's good to know that I could pay about £11 but I will probably still walk it, good exercise 🙂 Thanks for your comments concerning buses, I might need to pay cash until I get a debit card.

Thanks a lot @CharlieH I must have got it wrong. I will investigate more.

Thanks Denim. I love Thailand even more now. So how do I pay for a bus ride?

I am going to the UK soon after being in Thailand for nearly 8 years, to sort out many things including selling my house. My house is 1.5 miles from Norwich Airport I just did an online quote for the cost of a taxi. £40 for a 6 minute journey! In my life I haven't used taxis much. Is it really that expensive for a taxi ride in the UK? My bag going to the UK is not that heavy so I think I will walk home if that is the cost, I have done it before. Or have I done something wrong?

My plans have now improved after reading different members advise and listening to the video. So assuming that I am able to sell my house. 1. I will make sure to spend less than 180 days in Thailand during 2025. 2. I plan to transfer enough money to Thailand this year while non resident to buy a house and also living expenses for a few years to avoid the need to file a tax return for a few years. In the next few years I will make sure to transfer less than 120,000 THB. Thank you all for helping me Keith

@chiang mai Thanks for your advice and all your other posts in this thread. I agree totally about “spreading the risk” or “not putting all your eggs in one basket”. You also give good advice about buying a house in Thailand. It is risky which is why I have been renting the past 7 years. I think your advice is good but of course everyone’s circumstances are different. I have never had children and now have no immediate family in the UK. My Thai gf and has looked after me well the last 8 years and her family are good hard working people, buying a house in part is a way to leave something to her or more likely to her 2 sons. Probably the worst thing I could do is leave my assets in the UK for the UK gov to eventually take a high %. I also like the thought of owning my own house and preparing for when I am older. I am naturally optimistic but I hope also a realist and do realise that things can go wrong in Thailand, unwanted noise is my biggest worry. I might end up continuing to rent. Thanks for the good wishes. @oldcpu Thanks for all your advice. You have helped me decide. I will definitely transfer some of the money from the sale of my house to Thailand during 2025 when I am not Thai resident. Thanks for your comment concerning Wise. @Liquorice Thanks for the video link. I have now listened to it and I think it is very good. It answered several things I was unsure about. For one, I wondered about having bank accounts offshore to the UK like Isle of Man but I have had no experience, in the past I think there were tax advantages but now with information sharing I think that the advantages have gone, but if this video it mentioned that IoM does not have a DTA with Thailand which could be a big disadvantage …….. so that has stopped me wondering. The video had a lot of other information that I have noted. @KhunHeineken Waiting is not really an option for me as I have a lot of other things that need to be done which are best done while in the UK. Also it will become more and more of an effort as time passes to go to the UK and deal with all that is involved with the selling of my house.

Would love some advice to help me fully decide what to do this year. I have read most of this thread and have learnt a lot so thank you all so much. I am a 71 year old male from the UK. I have had a relatively simple life in that I worked for the same company for 40 years in the UK. I came to Thailand in 2017 after giving a Letting Agency control to manage my house. Until now I have not been back to the UK and love life here in Thailand. Each year I declare my income including rent to HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) I feel for several reasons that it is now time to sell my house. I plan to go to the UK in the very near future, probably March this year to do that. I bought my house in the UK in 1980, lived in it until 2017. Hopefully I will sell it in 2025. I plan to spend the first 2 months decorating my house before putting it on the market so I guess I will need to spend about 6 months in the UK, so it will not be any inconvenience to make sure I spend less than 180 days in Thailand during 2025. So let’s assume that I receive £350,000 for the sale of my house and I pay £5,000 CGT. I do also have savings of over £300,000 and proof that I had that in savings accounts at the end of 2023. My intention is to buy a house in Thailand in the future. As an aside I have looked into the details of buying a house in Thailand, I might have more to learn but I would look for my girlfriend of 8 years who I fully trust to buy the land freehold and also have a Usufruct contract. I know the area in Thailand that I wish to live and I like the thought of having my own house, all part of preparing for when older. My question’s are:- 1. Can I transfer all of the money from the sale of my house to my Thai bank account via Wise in year 2025 or future years without any need to declare it to the Thai tax department? Basically it will not be assessable? 2. Should I definitely make sure that this year I spend less than 180 days in Thailand to be on the safe side? 3. Keep the money from the sale of my house in a UK bank or Wise, somewhere that I can receive a higher interest than in Thailand. Would I be confident that I could then transfer this to Thailand in a future year without paying any Thai tax, that it would not be assessable for Thai tax? 4. Should I forget about transferring money from the sale of my house to Thailand and just invest it in the UK. I would still want to look to buy a house in Thailand but could move my savings across confident after reading this thread that it would not be assessable for Thai tax? I’m very interested what others would do in my situation. Thanks in advance Keith

Thanks @Jaggg88 I agree with what you write except I would want a UK bank as well as Wise. I cannot give any firm reason but I think someone on a forum stated that their private pension provider would only pay into a UK registered bank. That may not be correct but better to be safe than sorry as they say.

@mrwebb8825 Because sending a letter to Thailand is more expensive, takes longer and is less reliable than sending within the UK.