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SIPP - Self Invested Personal Pension

 

We introduce advisors who ensure your SIPP is fit for purpose.
Put simply, a Self invested Personal Pension Plan or SIPP is a personal pension plan which provides more individual control through greater flexibility and increased investment choices. Whether you’re looking to review your existing arrangement or set up a new SIPP, we have a qualified professional SIPP advisor for you.

 

 

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How do I maximise my SIPP investment?

A specialist SIPP advisor will take the time to ensure no stone is left unturned and along with the following factors will help you to consider what’s important:

Begin by exploring your purpose in having a SIPP! For example, having access to a wider selection of investment choices through a SIPP is no good if you don’t use them.

Your number of years or term to retirement should greatly influence your investment strategy and the content of the portfolio contained within the SIPP. Your advisor can help you understand the impact of years to retirement as well as the corrosive effects of inflation.

Discuss your risk profile with your advisor before purchasing your SIPP investments. Taking a more cautious approach may require you to work a year longer while being too adventurous might mean never retiring at all.

Performance and performance reviews as with any pension remains a vital ingredient. If your SIPP underperforms you will need to either alter your investment strategy or increase contribution levels. A SIPP advisor can provide updates and recommend strategies that are designed to keep you on track.

All SIPPs receive the same favourable taxation treatment on contributions, provided you and your trustee operate within the HMRC guidelines. Failure to comply with the guidelines including investment in to unauthorised assets and can lead to significant taxation consequences.

Charges in your SIPP can be as a transaction cost (buying and selling shares), as a fixed amount, a percentage of the asset value or both. Take time to explore the charges with your advisor who will be able to pinpoint the best charging structure for you

Choosing your Trustees can take time because every trustee operates slightly differently. Their rigidity or flexibility will influence your SIPP’s ability to invest more widely into areas like private equity or individual share purchase. Specialist SIPP advisors will have a practical working knowledge and will often be on first name terms with trustees.

 

The Cost of good SIPP advice:

Good SIPP advice and paying for it should really be viewed as a worthwhile investment that keeps you on track with your retirement planning goals. There is a cost of not taking advice and who knows what that disaster fund could amount to as well as a cost for advice which will be disclosed to you by your SIPP advisor.

The best SIPP advisors will save you more than they would even cost over the term to retirement when combining improved investment performance and reduced costs.

You are really investing in a professional who will tell you directly the way it is, pointing out in good times that you can have a contribution holiday and conversely telling you to put more money in when performance is lacking.

Take the next step with your SIPP enquiry today and let us introduce you to a suitably qualified advisor – complete our form today

 

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SIPPs: Retirement Options – Value and Choice
February 15th, 2011 | Your SIPP

If you have benefited from the tax relief of SIPPs and have been fortunate enough to have seen your total investment grow as you approach retirement, you will obviously be keen to make the most prudent decision once your working days are over.

Choices
Although the state pension age is much higher, it is possible for pension savers to start taking pension benefits at the age of 55 and this is also the case with SIPPs. You can withdraw one quarter of your total pension sum all at once upon retirement and not have to pay a penny in tax. The remaining money is to be kept in the pension account and is considered to be taxable income. One option you have is to use your SIPP money to purchase an annuity. A lifetime annuity provides you with a guaranteed income each year for the duration of your lifespan. Another possibility is to simply withdraw money from your SIPP directly. The law states that all retirement benefits must be put in place by the time you reach 75.

Annuities For Life
As the name suggests and has already been partially explained, a lifetime annuity can be purchased to give you a guaranteed income. Investment linked annuities are risky but could also lead to a greater reward. Basically, your income depends on fund performance which could rise or fall. Conventional annuities are safer and allow you to decide how you want the interest rate to increase. You could set a guaranteed fixed amount, an increase each year or you could link it to inflation.

One potential problem with annuities is that you effectively prevent anyone from inheriting your original pension when you lifespan concludes. Value protection is one way to prevent this from happening and will be explained below. You can purchase joint annuities which will protect your partner as he/she will continue to be paid after your death. Another form of annuity can be purchased which guarantees payment for a number of years, regardless of whether or not you die during that time.

Value Protection
Any capital that has not been used is paid out by value protected annuities if you die before the age of 75. The difference between the payments you have made thus far and the money used to purchase the annuity will be paid to the recipient who will have to pay 35% tax on this income. As this is a more advanced form of protection, value protected annuities are more expensive than their regular counterparts. The biggest advantage of these types of annuity is the fact that you can protect a certain percentage of your fund.

If you haven't found all the answers that you are looking for you can find similar content in the Your SIPP sections, contact an adviser at the top of the page, or you could try these related posts:

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