Pensions Again...

[piggynose]

As i said in a previous post i've been told by my pension holders to fill in an option 32 pension transfer form, this came with a deadline. So afer reading the complex blurb/jargon, i was under the impression that i had to find a financial advisor by law. So for the last 2 weeks or so i've been searching the net to find one. I finally found one, anyway after going through the palaver of what i needed to do, i was then given an approximate cost for their services based on a percentage. After the initial shock of how much they charge, i contacted a friend/ex colleague, and explained my plight, he said that i dont need to pay for a FA, just needed proof that i consulted one.
Has anybody on here been through a similar experience?
oh its not over yet!!

[Peter Pedant]

blimey he has a pension pot of £150k and he is asking bozos and walk-ins like you and i.

are you sure he isnt a little pension potty ?

I liked "I have been sent a form so I HAVE to fill it in..." hur hur hur

[woofgang]

me too....wish I had his address hur hur hur

[bednobs]

oi peter - i prefer to think of myself as a weird internet random rather than a bozo or walk - in

[piggynose]

Thank Peter the bozo for me,will you?

[piggynose]

Obviously u know nothing about pensions peter, or you wouldn't call yrself a bozo

[fiction-factory]

I share your frustration on this thread bednobs. Several answers have said it ould need an IFA to sign off a transfer but sevaral times the answer has been overlooked. A financial adviser has said leave it where it is so I just can't see why there is any need to pay for someone to say he should move it. After all these posts it is still not clear whether piggynose is being told he has to transfer it or just wants to transfer it or has completely misunderstood the issues

[alavahalf]

Ff .. will signing off by a IFA be deemed as 'advice given' and therefore raise the same charge of 3% of the fund value.

If it does, then surely piggy would be better advised to request advice on an hourly fee basis which may well be in the region of £250 an hour.

[fiction-factory]

I think an hour;s advice is a good idea given the large sums involved. I think it's likely the adviser will reafirm the advice not to transfer it unless exceptional circumstances apply. I tried something similar and no FA would touch it or said they would only do it for £2000- £3000 - and that was for just £50000 of an AVC fund that I wanted to transfer and draw before drawing the related company pension. It made sense to me but the IFAs were wooried about future litigation if it went wrong for me

[fiction-factory]

I certainly doubt that an IFA would study all the documents, discuss the pension holder's needs and life expectancy/health, analyse all the risks and benefits, and consider alternatives and sign off such a transfer for £150000 or whatever the figure is, just based on a one hour meeting

[bednobs]

i don't think from what piggy has said it can be the company wanting him to move it. After all, they did not contact him (implying they were happy for it to stay there) he contacted them

[alavahalf]

Surely any Pension Provider would never advise transferring out .. lets face it, they live off our management fees.

[piggynose]

thanx folks for this heated debate at times. I like that option of paying per hour, but it does seem that i´ll struggle to get anything done for less than 4,500 quid. as the pot dictates the cost.
One thing i wont do, is be pushed into making a decison especially if its in only after talking for an hour. i could delay things until late march, when i travel to uk again. My pension holder is taking their time replying to my emails.

[piggynose]

received this today... from an F.A.

Some information on the fees below, which I hope is useful.

There isn’t any fee for the initial consultations stage. Following that, to produce the pension planning report (which includes the TVAS) we charge a relatively small fee of £500. Although If you decide to proceed with the transfer this £500 would be taken off of the final fee. And so, if you decide not to transfer the cost to you is limited to £500.



Following that, to execute the transfer (if you do decide to proceed with the transfer), our fees are tiered based on the transfer value(s). Where the transfer value is under £500k, our fee is 3% of the transfer value. And so for example, based on a transfer value of £50,000 the fee would be £1,500; or a transfer of around £150,000 would be approx. £4,500. If you decide to proceed with transferring, the pension bears this fee, i.e. it would come off of the pension amount upon transfer rather than you being presented with an invoice.

Hope that makes sense.