How does a QROPS UK pension transfer overseas work? (Part one)

by Tom Zachystal

A number of readers have asked how the process of transferring UK pensions overseas typically works. In this part one of a two-part column we will look at the people and agencies involved in the transfer process and the various associated costs. In part two, we will look at the paperwork that needs to be completed and steps that need to be taken in order to effectuate a UK pension transfer...

Read more at http://www.expatfocus.com/how-does-a-qrops-uk-pension-transfer-overseas-work-1

Scene from the life of an English teacher in France

"It was a very warm afternoon in October when I arrived at La Maison de l’Amitié in Albi, a medium-sized town, birthplace of Toulouse-Lautrec, in south-west France. It was a handsome red-brick building constructed around a large courtyard where an enormous horse-chestnut grows. After a hot and dry summer it was shedding its leaves as fast as its chestnuts.

I went into the office and said hello, in English, to Frédéric and Sandrine, the admin staff. It’s a sort of running joke, though their English isn’t bad: Frédéric even managing to aspirate his h. Natalie, who’s in charge of the office, fired off French at machine-gun pace in her strong south-west accent, all –ng at the end of words. I usually get the gist..."

More at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/6617646/Raining-cats-and-dogs-a-scene-from-the-life-of-an-English-teacher-in-France.html

Can you help near Bordeaux?

A request for help from one of our members:

"Are there two fit men near Bordeaux able to help us with a once-only problem? Our 21-year-old son was knocked down in a hit-and-run incident 6 weeks ago and has been in the Pellegrin Hospital since. His bones are mending and he is out of a coma, but weakened and unable to walk. We need to get him home and expect the doctors to sign him off as fit to fly on or soon after 6 November. We just need to get him to Bordeaux Airport, where ground attendants will take over. So it is just a question of lifting him, all 6 ft-plus of him, from a wheelchair at the hospital, into a car or people carrier, and driving him with my wife, who has been with him all this time, to the airport. We'll gladly refund fuel costs. We'd use a private ambulance but the lad had inadvertently let his travel insurance expire. Please ring me, James Darley, on 020 7939 7979 (office), 01494 484414 (home) or my wife Crissy on 07906 218783."