pension question

[hornie]

My hubby set up a personal pensions a while ago and it's ploddign along doing miserably.
While we could transfer it to another pensions, what other options can we take?
i.e. how can we get at the money to better invest it?
Can we transfer it say into a property?

[Eric Mc]

The problem with most other investments is that the gain the investment will generate at a future date may very well be subject to Capital Gains Tax. Also, the income generated by the pension pot is tax free income. Income generated by most other investments are taxed on an annual basis.

[rich25]

The most popular option amongst my clients at the moment is to transfer funds into a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). Once here, you have various options, the major advantage being better comntrol of the underlying investments. It is possible to invest in various types of property - e.g. land or property funds (including some quite bespoke ones) although darling Gordon's U-turn means that the tax penalties for buying residential or buy-to-let properties make this unfeasible. SIPP-ability also depends on type of pension currently running (SERPS or protected rights cannot be SIPPed) and fund size. Charges are generally a flat rate so for smaller funds this can work out quite expensive.

There is also a loophole for sale-and-leaseback properties, such as an apartment in a hotel - this works in France, for instance, but we are currently investigating the possibility of opening a similar product in the Bulgarian market - a very popular area with investors at the moment.

Having said all this, with pensions in particular it is paramount for you to get good, independent advice before making any decisions. Projections need to be made of your existing plans. When wass the last time your husband reviewed the funds his pension was invested in?! The FTSE has performed very strongly for the last 18 months and we have seen a lot of clients funds double through shrewd equity investments.