Transfer Retirement Benefits from Australia to USA

[bounrith 0]

Have anyone gone through this before? My fiancee, soon to be wife, is ready to move to the US and we can't think of how to transfer her Austrlian SUPER to the US into a Roth IRA or some sort of account. I will research further but TBH.

Obviously, we can wait to transfer after she receive her SSN and thus able to open Roth IRA or regular IRA account or 401K. But there still we wonder how Australia reacts to the transfer?

Thank you.

[DairyFarmer 1]

Have anyone gone through this before? My fiancee, soon to be wife, is ready to move to the US and we can't think of how to transfer her Austrlian SUPER to the US into a Roth IRA or some sort of account. I will research further but TBH.

Obviously, we can wait to transfer after she receive her SSN and thus able to open Roth IRA or regular IRA account or 401K. But there still we wonder how Australia reacts to the transfer?

Thank you.

I'm sorry to say you won't be able to transfer her Superannuation as it is protected under Australian federal legislation until your wife comes of retirement age. This age is dependant on her date of birth.

[kaffy 2]

I understand that the only way to access your super before retirement is if you are a temporary Australian resident who is departing permanently

See: http://www.ato.gov.au/super/content.asp?do...p;page=1&H1

[DairyFarmer 1]

Correct if you were an Australian citizen whilst you earnt your Super you can't get it until the relevant retirement age.

What you can do is sometimes reduce costs for example if you have insurances attached to your super they can be cancelled in a lot of cases.

[bounrith 0]

Thank you so much and I think the link to AUS gov website might just works for us. I'll keep the forum up to date.

I love Australia and we might just retire in a small town near Perth...where hopefully it won't be Los Angeles in 50 years.

[corinne from oz 0]

Have anyone gone through this before? My fiancee, soon to be wife, is ready to move to the US and we can't think of how to transfer her Austrlian SUPER to the US into a Roth IRA or some sort of account. I will research further but TBH.

Obviously, we can wait to transfer after she receive her SSN and thus able to open Roth IRA or regular IRA account or 401K. But there still we wonder how Australia reacts to the transfer?

Thank you.

Hello,

I have been making enquiries regarding this also quite recently. I contacted my super fund and also APRA. It turns out that current legislation will not allow you to transfer your Super to an overseas fund (because it is not compliant with Aussie funds). However, this is not acceptable. As it is your/my money we have the right to invest it where ever we choose. Fortunately my local Member for Parliament agrees and will be escalating this issue in Parliament.

So write to your local member. I am happy to provide further details (strength in numbers) just email me directly.

Cheers, Corinne

[DairyFarmer 1]

I understand how you feel about it being your money, what you may need to remember is superannuation was developed to lessen the burden on the social security system at retirement. You were never meant to access the funds before this time. Additionally it may be you decide to return to Australia for example for retirement these monies go towards that.

You MAY be able to access your funds under "Early Release" it pertains to extreme circumstances and is known as Compassionate Grounds (IF your superannuation company has this built into their trust deed. Some deeds were written before this was introduced)

The circumstances are

to cover paying funeral costs

medical expenses (there are specific requirements)

and

if you are in danger of foreclosure on your primary residence.

There is another "Early Release" called financial hardship however this can only be accessed by those in receipt of specific AUSTRALIAN social security benefits.

[DairyFarmer 1]

I should have added if you need to claim for Compassionate grounds it is 'judged/administered' (for lack of a better word at this moment) by APRA - the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.APRA link to early release.

Additionally you still retain control over your money.

You can transfer it to another superannuation fund that meets your needs.

You can switch the investment options and add beneficaries. (In case of death)

Investigate the investment options some funds offer not only managed funds but direct share investment and some even offer Capital Guaranteed investments. Each will have its own rules and fees associated but there are hundreds of options out there.