How do I convince a financial adviser to sign off on my pension transfer?

MrsOystercatcher

Marcon said:

OP - are you sure your workplace pension will accept a transfer from a DB scheme when the adviser has advised staying put? Unless it's a stakeholder pension, that is very unlikely (so open a stakeholder pension if you're determined to go ahead).

Thanks for this - I hadn't even considered that this might be an issue......will try to deal with the adviser first and then speak to my workplace scheme providers

FIREmenow

How much pension per year and automatic lump sum do you have in your deferred LGPS pension? 

Have you had a forecast from LGPS of what you could access if you took your pension now, and whether you can request a big enough pension commencement lump sum to add to a flat purchase? It would be reduced for being taken early, so depends how much there was to start with. Perhaps your advisor has already looked into this as part of the process?

If you can access enough cash without transferring out, you can retain the other benefits of LGPS such as death benefits, which could be really valuable for your daughter. A child's survivor pension from LGPS can be paid into adulthood if a child has a disability which means they cannot support themselves. I don't know how neurodiversity is assessed in this case (and certainly not suggesting that autistic folks can't be independent).

This is not a recommendation, just throwing out a possibility. Really think about (and do the maths for) how much money you will need live on in retirement (your 'number') and whether you will be short if you take from your pensions now.

MrsOystercatcher

Quick update - I emailed the IFA this morning, quoting the very helpful bits of advice I have received on here.  He has now asked me to send the forms over for him to look at......progress!!   I'm very grateful for the help. 

hyubh

MrsOystercatcher said:

I cannot access the local government pension until I'm 60

This will not be correct, although the details will depend on when you were an active member of the LGPS. I agree with others, it would be useful if you could give more details of the LGPS pension you are looking to sacrifice (in particular membership dates) - it's not outside the bounds of possibility that drawing the DB pension as DB will be the better option.

Albermarle

but the adviser from Humboldt Financial (identified for me via Unbiased) who has been through all the relevant details of my pensions has now told me that as they would not recommend the transfer, they won't be able to sign off on it as this would be viewed by the regulator as endorsing the transfer.  

When you say that the advisor 'has been through all the relevant details' do you mean that you have paid for a full long and detailed analysis of your financial situation and pension, as part of the legally necessary advice process ? The fee for this is normally a few thousand Pounds at least.

Or has the advisor done a much quicker and cheaper review, just to see if going ahead with the full review would be worthwhile or not? In this case he would not be obliged to sign anything.

HappyHarry

Albermarle said:

but the adviser from Humboldt Financial (identified for me via Unbiased) who has been through all the relevant details of my pensions has now told me that as they would not recommend the transfer, they won't be able to sign off on it as this would be viewed by the regulator as endorsing the transfer.  

When you say that the advisor 'has been through all the relevant details' do you mean that you have paid for a full long and detailed analysis of your financial situation and pension, as part of the legally necessary advice process ? The fee for this is normally a few thousand Pounds at least.

Or has the advisor done a much quicker and cheaper review, just to see if going ahead with the full review would be worthwhile or not? In this case he would not be obliged to sign anything.

If the adviser has told then OP that they would not recommend the transfer then they have either:
(i) Carried out abridged advice which does not require the adviser to sign the paperwork confirming advice has been given - as it hasn't.
(ii) Carried out full advice on a pension transfer in which case they are obliged to sign the paperwork stating that advice has been given.
(iii) Not carried out either abridged or full advice, in which case no recommendation or suggestion as to the appropriateness of the transfer should have been given.

From what has been said by the OP so far, either the adviser has provided abridged advice or the adviser has not followed FCA guidance which really should be challenged.

MrsOystercatcher

Thank you to everyone who has replied and sorry for the delay in responding, was away from my computer!!

The adviser has had details of all my pensions but so far,  I have been covered by their free advice session.  I was expecting to pay at some point, even if only for them to complete the forms, as I'm paying for their service.  Armed with the advice from here,  I challenged their refusal to sign the form and was then asked to send through all the forms for them to look at. Success,  I thought.........but then their compliance manager emailed me today to say that they were not aware that it was a Final Salary pension that I want to transfer and they don't have the requisite licence.  

I am now rather confused  - as far as I had understood, a defined benefits pension is the same as a final salary pension, have I got this wrong? They knew from the outset when I filled in their initial form that I was seeking to transfer a DB pension - so why not tell me then that they couldn't help?  I've wasted several weeks dealing with them and will now need to find a new adviser.  My CETV quote expires on 25th August so now I'll need to get that redone. 

My LGPS pension's transfer value is £85k and the April 2024 statement says that my lump sum as of now would be £10,560 and annual payment of £3,520.   I left the LGPS in April 2009. 

If I am able to take a lump sum now,  I would be perfectly happy to leave the rest where it is until retirement, but is that possible and I how would I go about it?  

(Also thanks to the person who mentioned a child's survivor pension but my daughter will be able to work and support herself in the future, she's just had a rubbish couple of years). 

molerat

You will not be able to take the LGPS lump sum without commencing payment of the pension, it is all or nothing.

dunstonh

.but then their compliance manager emailed me today to say that they were not aware that it was a Final Salary pension that I want to transfer and they don't have the requisite licence.  

I am now rather confused  - as far as I had understood, a defined benefits pension is the same as a final salary pension, have I got this wrong?

Only around 1 in 10 advice firms hold the regulatory permissions to do DB transfers.   A quick check of their permissions on the FCA register confirms they do not.

 They knew from the outset when I filled in their initial form that I was seeking to transfer a DB pension - so why not tell me then that they couldn't help?

We can only speculate, but perhaps you got a trainee or new recruit, or you dealt with an administrator/paraplanner/assistant rather than an adviser during that initial meeting.  6 of their 8 advisers have only been with the company in advising roles since 2023 going by the FCA register dates.

The person you dealt with appears to have a distinct lack of knowledge. If you specifically said it was a DB transfer, then you would expect them to know and not waste yours or their time.

MrsOystercatcher

dunstonh said:

.but then their compliance manager emailed me today to say that they were not aware that it was a Final Salary pension that I want to transfer and they don't have the requisite licence.  

I am now rather confused  - as far as I had understood, a defined benefits pension is the same as a final salary pension, have I got this wrong?

Only around 1 in 10 advice firms hold the regulatory permissions to do DB transfers.   A quick check of their permissions on the FCA register confirms they do not.

 They knew from the outset when I filled in their initial form that I was seeking to transfer a DB pension - so why not tell me then that they couldn't help?

We can only speculate, but perhaps you got a trainee or new recruit, or you dealt with an administrator/paraplanner/assistant rather than an adviser during that initial meeting.  6 of their 8 advisers have only been with the company in advising roles since 2023 going by the FCA register dates.

The person you dealt with appears to have a distinct lack of knowledge. If you specifically said it was a DB transfer, then you would expect them to know and not waste yours or their time.

Thanks for this - reassures me that I'm not stupid!  The annoying thing (of several annoying things) is that the guy I was dealing with apparently also discussed my case with his colleague who is an LGPS specialist and would surely have known that it would be a DB pension (as I gather most local govnt ones are)?

It seems a lot harder than I initially thought to find an appropriate adviser!   Do you have any advice about the best way to go about it please?