A quick insight into older style UK (Insurance Company based) Personal Pensions and some comment on that action that you should take if you have one (or more) of these in place.
Personal Pensions have been around since 1988 and in this time the industry in the UK has gone through great change. Now as we are well into the new millennium the issues with Pensions and Pension Planning are little changed, indeed with the so called Pension Simplification rules (which have just complicated the planning) there are even more aspects to be concerned about
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As an investor in one of these Early Personal Pension Plans or any other form of Personal Pension you need to be aware of several things. Especially if you used a Personal Pension Scheme to Contract Our of SERPS or S2P as it is called today.
Not all Pension Plans are the same, for example of you have a Plan with one of the now closed Insurance Company's or with one of the UK High Street Banks there is a good chance you are paying far more in overall charges than you need to be.
Post Credit Crunch we are sure you are not only paying more in charges than you need to, but the range of available Investment Funds could well be limited in many ways and this means that you will probably benefit from a review of your planning and a possible move to another more modern provider.
What about a Self Invested Personal Pension?
Have you got one of these and do not understand it? There is help available. We can help, there is a good chance you will be paying way over the top for the privilege of something you never knew you had and that you are unlikely to use.
The cynic in me could argue that it suited the person that sold it to you was more interested in the High Charging features than you. Now this may not be the truth for many providers however for a lot it course it is true.
Now many individuals that have the benefit of Company Pensions should have been getting all of the reviews and advice required, however it is often the case that these reviews are all put on the back burner and not done, and guess what? You will be surprised when you are 5 years from retirement and you realise that your Pension will not be anywhere near the amount you expected. The only way to prevent this kind of shock is to review and to check and get confirmation of your options well in advance.
A little action now will save a lot of pain later.
In summary, if you have any form of UK Personal Pension Plans in place and these have not been reviewed for some time, you had better 'get your skates on' as time is moving forward at a rapid pace.
There has probably never been a better opportunity to review, check and make some decisions. Importantly if you have a current Independent Financial Adviser you should contact them as soon as possible and ask for your plans to be reviewed.
Richard Smith is an Independent Financial Adviser at www.thefinancezone.co.uk/abbey-life-abbey-life-equitable-life-self-invested-personal-pensions-etc/ providing advice and guidance on all Investment and Pension matters, review, update and planning.
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