Offer to move some of company shares to pension...is it worth it?

silvercue

Hi,

I received an email this morning from my company, (who are a FTSE100 company) saying for a limited time (until 11th Jan) they are allowing us to move our shares, which we have gained through company share schemes, to our pension.

They list some potential benefits but have not explained them well and it doesn't seem to jump out and say this is worth doing.

I am 51 and contributing as much as I can afford form salary to pension now.  

Is this generally looked at as a good thing to do?  I am struggling to see real benefits with doing this.

Thanks

Somebody

I used to transfer these shares received on maturity of share schemes into my ISA or SIPP so they grow tax free and dividends received are also tax free.  I think you have 90 days (or is it 60?) to transfer from maturity.

Plus I got a 20% tax top up when transferring into the SIPP, based on the value of the shares when the platform receives them.

dunstonh

Is this generally looked at as a good thing to do?  I am struggling to see real benefits with doing this.

The pension wrapper is generally better than the ISA wrapper which is better than unwrapped.     So, it makes perfect sense from a tax wrapper point of view.   However, the purchase price of the shares will be important.

43k_in_43m

Presumably in doing this you're guaranteeing current value (which presumably is higher than the price paid irrespective of the tax situation) for a future benefit i.e. you're removing any potential upside should there be a short/medium term market move or a takeover bid ?

What's your appetite for risk vs your current pension pot ?