Pensions

 

Did you know that you can transfer some or all of the money from your existing poor-performing pension schemes into a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension).  It's very simple.

 

Or that you can set up a new SIPP and get tax relief at your highest rate on all contributions you make into it? It's as easy as anything.

 

A SIPP - Self-Invested Personal Pension - is a form of pension plan where you choose where your money is invested, rather than the more conventional type where a fund manager invests it for you.

 

You have total control. You can invest a lump sum, a regular sum or transfer some or all of your existing plan(s), or a combination of some or all the above - the choice is yours. And it's all done painlessly by our recommended team of Independent Financial Advisers.

 

A SIPP is a 'defined contribution' pension scheme. The amount of pension that is paid out to the individual on retirement is dependent on the total value of money that has accrued from contributions paid, whether by the individual or their employer, plus any return gained from the investments made with the contributions received.

 

As with all pensions, you get income tax relief at your highest rate for all contributions, so that a higher-rate taxpayer could invest £10,000 and get tax relief of £4,000 meaning that the investment of £10,000 has only cost them £6,000. But all earnings within the fund would be based on the full £10,000 invested, that's your £6,000 plus the government's £4,000.

 

Not only are the contributions net of tax: all income and capital gains earned by the fund are free of all taxes, although dividends on company shareholdings (not appropriate to every investment) are paid net of tax. This makes the potential growth from compounding quite extraordinary. And when you come to retire, aged 50 or more (55 from 2010 onwards), you can take out 25% of your fund as a tax-free lump sum.

 

This is an ideal way to maximise your returns from qualifying investments. Whether you have one or more pension funds going back years from a previous employer, which can be transferred into a SIPP, or whether you set up a new SIPP and make monthly, quarterly (or whatever you choose) contributions, you can re-invest each year's returns to compound your gains.

 

Viceroy Invest can introduce you to a team of Independent Financial Advisers who are qualified to set up SIPP investments. They have a ready-made and FSA-approved SIPP structure in place.
 


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