How do I set up a SIPP for someone who does not speak English and can’t use a computer

sj15

dunstonh said:

We looked at Hargreaves and my mum hadn't heard of them.

She probably hasn't heard of most of the big players.   Just some of the old fashioned insurers.

She was told about Aviva from someone she knows and we thought it's best to go with a household name. 

Most Aviva pensions are placed via IFAs.

If she cannot handle online then would a local IFA that speaks her native tongue be useful? 

We went on unbiased.co.uk and spoke to 2 IFA's initially who wanted 3% and 3.5% respectively. They did not speak any other languages and we didn't feel like we needed their service. Not knocking their services, it's just my mum knows what she wants. A tax free lump sum + additional amount (which we know is taxable) to get her back on the property ladder. With the leftover being invested in a fund later. 

sj15

Brynsam said:

Why does she (or you) need to speak at all? You can do everything online for her, or print out hard copy forms, fill them in and get her to sign.

This was my plan.. Get the money transferred in to a new pot and I could help her draw it down online. 
It's just I had a call with Aviva earlier and they were saying she needs to go online and do it herself and if they call her she needs to answer any questions herself. So I thought if they called her - we're screwed as she will struggle to answer.
I understand power of attorney is an option - just seems extreme. But I don't have many more options.  

bigadaj

sj15 said:

Brynsam said:

Why does she (or you) need to speak at all? You can do everything online for her, or print out hard copy forms, fill them in and get her to sign.

This was my plan.. Get the money transferred in to a new pot and I could help her draw it down online. 
It's just I had a call with Aviva earlier and they were saying she needs to go online and do it herself and if they call her she needs to answer any questions herself. So I thought if they called her - we're screwed as she will struggle to answer.
I understand power of attorney is an option - just seems extreme. But I don't have many more options.  

Aviva won't deal with you without power of attorney. If you do things online with your mother they have no way of knowing that isn't your mother dealing with it, they wouldn't tacitly approve of this but if they don't know they can't stop it. The difficulty with a sipp is that it needs to be managed and invested by someone with a little knowledge. Have you calculated how much tax would be paid, it's likely to be fairly substantial. 

TBC15

I’m sure I didn’t talk to a single person when I opened the wife’s SIPP or mine with HL. You should be able to do it all online with a bit of paperwork in the post.

Brynsam

sj15 said:

Brynsam said:

Why does she (or you) need to speak at all? You can do everything online for her, or print out hard copy forms, fill them in and get her to sign.

This was my plan.. Get the money transferred in to a new pot and I could help her draw it down online. 
It's just I had a call with Aviva earlier and they were saying she needs to go online and do it herself and if they call her she needs to answer any questions herself. So I thought if they called her - we're screwed as she will struggle to answer.
I understand power of attorney is an option - just seems extreme. But I don't have many more options.  

The chances of any pension provider ringing to ask questions about such a simple set up must be pretty remote, but just use another provider - plenty of reputable ones available. HL is one, A J Bell another, both well established. 

xylophone

Is a SIPP the most suitable pension vehicle for her? 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77447934/#Comment_77447934

The situation was discussed in the above.

I suggested HL because of the ease of administration. The SIPP could be opened on line and the pension transferred in.

The OP's mother wanted to access the PCLS   (£17500)  and  an additional sum immediately.

The balance would remain within the pension. It would be a  modest amount - HL would not charge for holding in cash and even invested in a fund, the 0.45% charge  is not excessive.

The OP's mother could choose to continue to contribute to the pension - even if she is not earning, she could still contribute up to £2880 per annum and receive tax relief of £720.

With regard to accessing the pension, the OP should be aware of the tax implications.

it is quite likely that his mother would be overtaxed and need to reclaim. See here

https://adviser.royallondon.com/technical-central/pensions/benefit-options/emergency-tax-and-lump-sum-withdrawals/

p00hsticks

Brynsam said:

Why does she (or you) need to speak at all? You can do everything online for her, or print out hard copy forms, fill them in and get her to sign.

This - I set up a personal pension online with Aviva, have transferred another pension into it, continue to contribute to it and have taken money out of it, all electronically and without having to speak to anyone. In my experience it's much quicker and easier than my OH's one with Hargreaves Lansdowne appears to be (e.g. my £240 monthly contributions get the £60 tax relief creditted straight away, and there's no need to fill in, sign or post any paper forms at any point)

Linton

sj15 said:

Brynsam said:

Why does she (or you) need to speak at all? You can do everything online for her, or print out hard copy forms, fill them in and get her to sign.

This was my plan.. Get the money transferred in to a new pot and I could help her draw it down online. 
It's just I had a call with Aviva earlier and they were saying she needs to go online and do it herself and if they call her she needs to answer any questions herself. So I thought if they called her - we're screwed as she will struggle to answer.
I understand power of attorney is an option - just seems extreme. But I don't have many more options.  

Power of Attorney is not extreme in these circumstances, it just gives you legal authority to manage your mother's finances and will avoid hassle in the future.  Whilst your mother is mentally capable of making financial decisions even with PoA you should ensure that she makes those decisions and that you do not do something without consulting her.

PoA only gets "extreme"  once the donor loses mental capacity.

[Deleted User]

sj15 said:

dunstonh said:

We looked at Hargreaves and my mum hadn't heard of them.

She probably hasn't heard of most of the big players.   Just some of the old fashioned insurers.

She was told about Aviva from someone she knows and we thought it's best to go with a household name. 

Most Aviva pensions are placed via IFAs.

If she cannot handle online then would a local IFA that speaks her native tongue be useful? 

We went on unbiased.co.uk and spoke to 2 IFA's initially who wanted 3% and 3.5% respectively. They did not speak any other languages and we didn't feel like we needed their service. Not knocking their services, it's just my mum knows what she wants. A tax free lump sum + additional amount (which we know is taxable) to get her back on the property ladder. With the leftover being invested in a fund later. 

IFA would be a very good idea in this particular case. And 3% would be worth it. And you need to do a little reading. 

xylophone

IFA would be a very good idea in this particular case. 

The amount in question is only £70,000 and the OP's mother wants to access around £40,000 of that  as soon as possible.