opening pension account to take advantage of age extension loophole?

rangorang

I have come across articles in many places that indicate that if you open a pension account that has a "baked in age of 55" before April 2023 the extension of the retirement age to 57 which will take effect in 2028 does not apply (I'd post the link but the forum does not permit that). With this in mind, I just opened a SIPP with Hargreaves Lansdown, hoping that it would help me take advantage of this loophole. However, when I called them on the phone to inquire they said that the age for accessing the SIPP would change to 57 in 2028, in line with government regulations. Does anyone know which firms offer SIPPS with a  "baked in age of 55" that enables us to take advantage of the loophole? 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

You can read details of the changes here.

It looks to be scheme specific so HL have presumably opted not to allow this.

Not sure why you opened the SIPP and then asked them, wouldn't the sensible thing have been to ask them and then open it?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-the-normal-minimum-pension-age-for-pensions-tax

kuratowski

There is a long discussion on this a few pages back: Increase to Minimum Pension age from 55 to 57 - update 20/7: HMT con doc response published

As mentioned on that thread, in order to give certainty, pension scheme administrators will need to take legal advice and are not really yet in a position to do so today, as (1) the legislation is still draft and may change in the course of being enacted by Parliament and (2) the government consultation response promises that HMRC are going to provide further guidance or examples, this has not yet been published.  Based on current plans, the deadline is April 2023 so there's no need to rush into anything today, better to wait until the facts become clearer.

dunstonh

However, when I called them on the phone to inquire they said that the age for accessing the SIPP would change to 57 in 2028, in line with government regulations. Does anyone know which firms offer SIPPS with a  "baked in age of 55" that enables us to take advantage of the loophole? 

1 - there is no loophole
2 - legislation has not yet happened and is subject to change

No provider is going to give you a baked in age of 55 based on something that hasn't happened yet.  And when the rules are changed, they will follow those rules.

rangorang

Thanks everyone for the comments and esp. for pointing to the other thread! I wish very much I could include URLs but I can't so I will just say that the (perhaps misleading) stories I referenced are in Which.co.uk and Express and the headline reads "Pension UK: Minimum retirement age extension loophole discovered - how to 'lock in' at 55."

Albermarle

rangorang said:

Thanks everyone for the comments and esp. for pointing to the other thread! I wish very much I could include URLs but I can't so I will just say that the (perhaps misleading) stories I referenced are in Which.co.uk and Express and the headline reads "Pension UK: Minimum retirement age extension loophole discovered - how to 'lock in' at 55."

Don't believe everything you read in the papers, especially the Daily Express !
In fact Which also seem a bit unreliable in personal finance stories, as has been found out by threads on here a couple of times.