Sipp providers

okydoky

I am looking to consolidate 5 pension funds into a sipp, total value around £260k currently. I will be looking to crystallise later this year or next (recently made redundant, age 57) or maybe slightly further down the line but not too far. Will take max TFC and look to draw down within personal tax allowance.

Looking closely at different providers but taken by Alliance Trust's SIPP offering, although they do seem to have been acquired by a banking business quite recently so maybe wait a bit and see how dust settles.

Anybody any first hand experience of them??

Thanks in advance.

DavidLaGuardia

Are you definitely planning to spend all of your tax free cash in one go?

The reason I ask this is that many people simply move the tax free cash to another account. If you instead take out what you need as you go in terms of what you spend you would only need to take a part of the whole fund 25% tax free and 75% into cystallised drawdown.

The advanatge of this is that more of the fund is left in a tax efficient environment (the pension) and, crucially, the amount that remains uncrystallised could be paid as a tax free lump sum on death. As soon as it is crystalised then, on death, your beneficiaries have only the option of using the fund themselves as income drawdown or an annuity with taxable income (and that option only applies to a spouse or genuine financial dependent) the other option is the amount paid in full less 55% tax.

If you genuinely want to take the whole tax free cash and spend it instantly then, given the short period of time, keeping it that specific chunk a deposit account in the SIPP is probably the less risky option until then and making decisions about the remainder is required

The question you have specifically asked is what SIPP you should then be using. It is impossible to answer this without first understanding what the whole picture and your objectives are, bacause different providers have different attributes worth considering that are appropriate to different circumstances. Sorry not to be less vague, but sometimes these kind of questions no more answerable than requesting an answer to a subjective question like "what is the yummiest food?" without knowing a little bit more about the detail of what is being sought.

noh

Alliance Trust recently sold their full SIPP bussiness, they continue to offer and run their Select SIPP, which is the do it yourself online offering.
http://www.ftadviser.com/2012/10/19/pensions/sipps/alliance-sells-bn-sipp-book-as-it-focuses-on-platform-cOM2wMnB9lQLT0hAiNCRFL/article.html

I suspect it is the Select SIPP that you are considering.

I have had a Select SIPP for a few years now. I find that it is easy to use the online system. I have had difficulty with their customer services when contacted by telephone.
Recently they have increased their charges and I am considering moving to Sippdeal where I already have another SIPP.

kidmugsy

Each to his own: for running ISAs I dislike their online system. There's not much point pining for their old paper-based system, so at some point we'll move.

okydoky

DavidLaGuardia wrote: »

Are you definitely planning to spend all of your tax free cash in one go?

The reason I ask this is that many people simply move the tax free cash to another account. If you instead take out what you need as you go in terms of what you spend you would only need to take a part of the whole fund 25% tax free and 75% into cystallised drawdown.

The advanatge of this is that more of the fund is left in a tax efficient environment (the pension) and, crucially, the amount that remains uncrystallised could be paid as a tax free lump sum on death. As soon as it is crystalised then, on death, your beneficiaries have only the option of using the fund themselves as income drawdown or an annuity with taxable income (and that option only applies to a spouse or genuine financial dependent) the other option is the amount paid in full less 55% tax.

If you genuinely want to take the whole tax free cash and spend it instantly then, given the short period of time, keeping it that specific chunk a deposit account in the SIPP is probably the less risky option until then and making decisions about the remainder is required

The question you have specifically asked is what SIPP you should then be using. It is impossible to answer this without first understanding what the whole picture and your objectives are, bacause different providers have different attributes worth considering that are appropriate to different circuamstances. Sorry not to be less vague, but sometimes these kind of questions no more answerable than requesting an answer to a subjective question like "what is the yummiest food?" without knowing a little bit more about the detail of what is being sought.

I not intending to "spend" the TFC sum, rather to invest it in another tax efficient environment like s and s ISA's(not sure how long the option to take 25%tfc might be available). Also, need for tax efficient income is reason for taking drawdown, I have no other income so with about £200k left in pension pot I can have about £9k pa tax free, that's how I am thinking.
Understand your remarks re Sipp provider but was really just looking for someone in similar position to me who perhaps had plumped for Alliance offering and how their experience had been.

BLB53

I did a similar thing a few years back and chose Sippdeal and would recommend them (but have no experience of ATS).

Here's an article from last August on RIT which may help
http://www.retirementinvestingtoday.com/2012/08/the-cheapest-low-cost-sipp-self.html

If you are looking at income drawdown in the near future, you need to check out the admin charges for each sipp provider.

Gatser

okydoky wrote: »

I am looking to consolidate 5 pension funds into a sipp, total value around £260k currently. I will be looking to crystallise later this year or next (recently made redundant, age 57) or maybe slightly further down the line but not too far. Will take max TFC and look to draw down within personal tax allowance.
Looking ... at different ... Alliance Trust's SIPP offering, Anybody any first hand experience of them??

I was in similar position 2 years ago and AT was in my SIPP beauty contest.
I chose the Skandia Collective Retirement Account (CRA), using CLUBFINANCE as IFA to transfer funds into it.
The CRA is not labelled as a SIPP, but it has loads of funds to chose from and the charges are very reasonable.
CLUBFINANCE have provided excellent service/value for my needs too. They managed a smooth transfer and set up of my Skandia account.

I would certainly suggest you compare Skandia/ClubFinance and am interested in what you find... Good Luck.

DavidLaGuardia

okydoky wrote: »

Also, need for tax efficient income is reason for taking drawdown, I have no other income so with about £200k left in pension pot I can have about £9k pa tax free, that's how I am thinking.

I acknowledge, that point does make it a different kettle of fish

I must emphasise that taking way Tax free cash for funds without notice is very unrealistic fear for a number of reasons. Whether it affects future pension contracts is another matter, but still highly unlikely it because if pensions were 100% deferred tax there would little incentive for anyone paying the same rate of tax in retirement as they do in their working life.

DavidLaGuardia

Gatser wrote: »

The CRA is not labelled as a SIPP, but it has loads of funds to chose from and the charges are very reasonable.

Only charges you could see would have seemed reasonable. You would have had a selection of funds at retail costs with many of them paying Skandia agreed fees out of this in addtion to you account fee. A decent range of low cost methods of investing at discounted institutional prices or via ETFs and many low cost passive funds, where the real bucks are saved, would have been impossible through your choice.

You picked the best choice out of a range of horse and carts and were not aware of the cars.

jamesd

okydoky wrote: »

I am looking to consolidate 5 pension funds into a sipp, total value around £260k currently. I will be looking to crystallise later this year or next (recently made redundant, age 57) or maybe slightly further down the line but not too far. Will take max TFC and look to draw down within personal tax allowance.

Why not do it sooner and start to withdraw at the GAD limited rate, even if you don't need the income yet? Pension income probably beats drawing on savings. Say after the GA calculation changes from 100% to 120% in March or April?

mystic_trev

I've been using SIPPDEAL for over 12 years without any problems. I'd certainly recommend them.