Portafina

davieg11

DuncanChalmers1948 wrote: »

Yes, I believe this firm is legit. They are registered with the FCA and operated under the name Portal Financial until recently when they rebranded. I would check their charges as I understand these firms can charge up to 5% on transfer. Hargreaves Lansdown would be a much cheaper option if you are happy with execution only or if you are seeking retirement income assistance try Retirement Line, they did a wonderful job for me. Best regards Duncan Chalmers.

You obviously haven't read the thread as I already stated they are charging people I know 10%. {Edited by Forum Team}

£"Q*^$£(&

Maybe Portafina could tell us where they get their leads from ? I have been getting letters from them for several years, around every 2 months at a guess. I have no problem with this, it's a consistent supply of scrap paper. I've never paid into a pension because I have been ill and on very limited income for most of my life, so it is a bit of a puzzle why they target me, or do they just target anyone ?

Malthusian

ms11 wrote: »

Maybe Portafina could tell us where they get their leads from ? I have been getting letters from them for several years, around every 2 months at a guess. I have no problem with this, it's a consistent supply of scrap paper. I've never paid into a pension because I have been ill and on very limited income for most of my life, so it is a bit of a puzzle why they target me, or do they just target anyone ?

Do you get cold calls or junk mail from anyone else? Have you set up Direct Debits with charities, have you made PPI claims, have you ever put money into binary trading or anything like that?

If you've never done anything to get yourself put on a suckers list it might have been whoever lived in your property before you.

Algee55

I keep getting letters from Portafina suggesting that I can take 25% of my pension as a tax-free lump sum.
I know enough about these things to be pretty sure that I can only get 25% of my entire pension tax-free if I withdraw the whole pension. That means the other 75% would be taxable. The letters I receive could easily be misleading to a less informed recipient.
I throw the letters straight in the bin because if I wanted to withdraw money from my pension I would go directly to my pension provider, or find out how to do it myself and just do it.

davieg11

The last mug in my workplace to cash in their active db pension said they only got charged 6% from Portafina. Poor sods will have spent it all by the time retirement comes along.

Malthusian

Algee55 wrote: »

I know enough about these things to be pretty sure that I can only get 25% of my entire pension tax-free if I withdraw the whole pension.

The junk mailers are right and you are wrong. You can take the 25% tax free lump sum by itself and transfer the rest to an income drawdown policy, without taking any taxable income.

But yes, if you do need to withdraw money you should seek independent advice from a reputable IFA, not an outfit that sends junk mail.

GetThatDebtDownDude

Strongly agree with Malthusian. I have received several mail shots from Portafina. They go in the recycling. I have sought independent advice from a reputable IFA via unbiased.

Dorian1958

Rather surprised to receive junk mail from Portafina today (I hardly get any) trying to persuade me to extract 25% cash free from my pension. I acted on this by scribbling on the letter requesting I be removed from their database iaw the GDPR 2018, and posted it back to them, along with the glossy literature. If everyone did this they would need bigger recycling facilities at their office in Rochester.:)

AnotherJoe

Algee55 wrote: »

I keep getting letters from Portafina suggesting that I can take 25% of my pension as a tax-free lump sum.
I know enough about these things to be pretty sure that I can only get 25% of my entire pension tax-free if I withdraw the whole pension. That means the other 75% would be taxable. The letters I receive could easily be misleading to a less informed recipient.

Since this thread has been resurrected and for the avoidance of doubt in case anyone else is reading Algee55's post, he's totally wrong about having to withdraw the whole pension. Ironic since he titled his post "misleading message "

Malthusian

Dorian1958 wrote: »

Rather surprised to receive junk mail from Portafina today (I hardly get any) trying to persuade me to extract 25% cash free from my pension.

Given what Dunstonh said about the number of FOS decisions going against them, clearly they need as many {Edited by ForumTeam] as they can find to extract commission from before the music stops.


[Removed by Forum Team]