self emplyed pensions options?

sneekymum

And people with a family history of early death may well wish to preserve something to pass on apart from their defective genes.

dunstonh

sneekymum wrote:

And people with a family history of early death may well wish to preserve something to pass on apart from their defective genes.

Ironically, pension investments could still be ideal for them. Not for retirement planning but for investment purposes. To get the most from a pension, you need to die before commencing it

Terminally ill people with capital to pass on should consider pension investments. Grotty subject to talk about but if you have dependents and are in that situation, its one way to boost their benefits. Especially if you had life cover which paid out early on terminal illness.

sneekymum

Not a "Grotty Subject" - the government doesn't shy away from grave robbery

Aren't there limits on what can be invested in a pension though? Isn't it a bit tricky to lose a lump sum quickly in this way? Is it allowed to use a single-premium life policy if you're terminally ill? (Shouldn't we be on the IHT thread?)

ReportInvestor

After "A-Day" in April 2006 you will be able to invest up to your annual earnings in a pension, giving more flexibility for everyone, including someone who suddenly discovers they are terminally ill.

dunstonh

sneekymum wrote:

Not a "Grotty Subject" - the government doesn't shy away from grave robbery

Aren't there limits on what can be invested in a pension though? Isn't it a bit tricky to lose a lump sum quickly in this way? Is it allowed to use a single-premium life policy if you're terminally ill? (Shouldn't we be on the IHT thread?)

Limits are £3600 if no income or age related percentages, whichever is higher. It goes to 100% of income from next April or £3600 whichever is higher.

A pension is just an investment and single premiums are fine. As long as you are eligible at point of entry, there is no other restriction. The fact you may die in a number of months time is not an issue. The pension is also a trust so it pays the proceeds to your nominated beneficiary with no IHT concerns.

EdInvestor

David

DavidLaGuardia wrote:

Annuities based on other underlying investments can work more like a portfolio and respond to changes in the economy, but with the advantage of cross-subsidy which like any insurance is good but has winners and losers.

Sorry, but the idea of giving up capital to obtain a non-guaranteed income for life is even less appealing.I can't understand why anyone would buy an investment linked annuity rather than take income drawdown. The Equitable Life With-profits annuitants, whose income has been cut by 40% so far with no end in sight, are a very scary example of the risks.

Pal

Please note that I have (somewhat belatedly) edited Oceanblue's previous posts to remove his references to various specific FSA regulated products. Basically his post could be summarised as "I am an IFA..the best pension is XYZ product" and so on, which is dodgy ground as far as I am concerned.

There is no critisism implied in this and I do not wish to start a debate on whether or not OB's original comments were financial advice, or whether advice can be provided on these boards. If there is any doubt at all that advice is either being given or implied I will remove references to specific products, irrespective of whether they are regulated or not, simply because this board does not wish to end up in a legal argument with the FSA for something a poster wrote.

I have not changed Editors continuous plugs for SIPP providers because I assume that a SIPP cannot be purchased without financial advice anyway for the underlying investments, and I doubt that anyone takes Editor very seriously anyway. If anyone disagrees with this then let me know and I will delete all of his posts on this entire board in order to make sure that the problem is solved. I have no desire to read through all his posts again!

I appreciate that these edits might be applied arbitarily and inconsistently, simply because there are not enough hours in the day. All you IFAs are clever enough to take care with your comments in future. Simply writing a disclaimer on your posts is not enough (it might help but you may still have to go to court to prove it!). Please use your heads.

dunstonh

SIPPs can be purchased without financial advice, along with the associated assets. However, SIPPs are not currently regulated by the FSA, although there are calls for it to become regulated. The underlying investments though could be regulated or may not be, such is the nature of SIPPs.

So, is that a delete editor? - where is a really wicked and sarcastic smiley when you want one!

EdInvestor

Oh dear, now I'm really confused

Do you mean that we can't mention a specific regulated product? eg "Scottish Life has a good pension which allows this and that"? Or "Eagle Star's Property fund is worth checking out" ...

.....but we can mention an unregulated product? eg."XYZLife sells a home reversion plan that has some useful characteristics...."?

The Sipp provider that I usually mention (as a satisfied customer, that's all) is regulated, so I'm in the same boat as ob (and dunstonh for that matter) if that's what you mean.

Aren't Moneysavers allowed to make personal recommendations of products they've used? I see they do this all the time.

PS.Anything at all can be purchased without financial advice via a discount broker or IFA, such as Cavendishonline as recommended by MSE.

sneekymum

I think one problem is IFA's recommending particular products.

Problem two (not necessarily in order of appearance) is non-financially-qualified people not making clear enough in their postings that they are not experts and are not giving advice only opinion which may well be a poor choice to follow.

Having said that I hope that those of us with no financial qualifications but an active interest have something of value to add on occasion.......