“As one of the most complicated areas of financial planning, pension transfers must be analysed and assessed prior to any recommendation” Gareth Flanagan, Principle First Financial Advisers
Pension Transfers – Know the Facts
It is important, when considering a pension transfer, that the correct assessment has been carried out on your existing pension, as well as a pension review on the pension product or wrapper to which you are moving. Most pension transfers can be classified into the following two areas.
Occupational Scheme Pension Transfers
Moving from an occupational scheme into a Money Purchase pension scheme is not to be treated lightly. Only a select few financial advisers are qualified to advise on such an undertaking. Even those that do, need to carry out rigorous analysis, prior to recommendation. Before advising, a Principle First Pension Adviser will carry out a “Transfer Analysis”, based on the potential benefits in your current pension scheme, and assess these in relation to what you may achieve in a Private Money Purchase scheme. There may be certain pension guarantees associated with your occupational scheme, that may not seem important today, but could become very important at retirement. When transferring from an occupational pension scheme, we must take into account your needs at retirement, as well as your needs today, when advising.
Many people will also consider moving from one Occupational Scheme to another due to job migration. This is not necessarily the best option for clients, and advice would be necessary prior to making decisions.
Get pension advice on switching from an Occupational Pension Scheme
Transfers between Money Purchase Pension Schemes
For transferring between Money Purchase or Fund-based pension schemes, an analysis of the funds, and of the companies you are moving from and moving to, is needed. Assessing the restrictions and the benefits of both firms is a must, prior to our advising either way. As with Occupational Schemes, there are also many fund-based pensions with associated guarantees, especially older schemes that invested in With-Profit funds. In all these cases a thorough assessment is required, and the correct advice will ensure that you make the best decision.
Get pension advice if switching between pension funds
As a firm of Charetered Financial Planners, an accreditation given only to the highest-quality firms in the UK, we will carry out an analysis of the above free of charge, prior to making any recommendations. If you need pension transfer advice, please contact us on 0800 678 5929
