Pension Advisor would want £21,000 for a failed transfer

dunstonh

 I went ahead and got my CETV which was only 12 times the value so I’m going to hang on for better rates

You may be waiting a long time.   They are currently back in their typical ballpark range.   They were artificially high post-credit crunch due to gilt yields that hit record lows.      Anything is possible  of course but it would seem unlikely that we would return to where they were.

QrizB

eddiedog said:

I went ahead and got my CETV which was only 12 times the value

A factor of 12 would be poor value even if you were given the entire pension as tax-free cash. As a CETV (where 75% of it will be taxable) it's even worse.

eddiedog

QrizB said:

eddiedog said:

I went ahead and got my CETV which was only 12 times the value

A factor of 12 would be poor value even if you were given the entire pension as tax-free cash. As a CETV (where 75% of it will be taxable) it's even worse.

I must admit I was expecting at least 20 times. At least it made it an easy decision for me. 

michael1234

eddiedog said:

Hi Michael1234
ive been reading your thread with interest as I would also like to transfer my DB pension. I went ahead and got my CETV which was only 12 times the value so I’m going to hang on for better rates but I’d love to know how you did it from start to end if you wouldn’t mind doing a bit of a summary when you’re done please.  

I hope it all works out well for you. 

Thanks for the interest and good to know I haven't written about my experiences in vein. To be honest it was slightly therapeutic but I also have received a lot of good advice. I don't recommend anyone reading back over 15 pages so I'll see if I can find the time to write it up if and when mine goes through. I wonder if at that point, I should create a new thread or append to this one? Don't mind either way.

Macron: That sounds like good news for me? The IFA sent off all the signed forms last weeks which included proof I'd received advice. The CETV doesn't expire until late April so it sounds like I can relax (a bit) as it doesn't matter how long the DB scheme take .

Hoenir

michael1234 said:

Macron: That sounds like good news for me? The IFA sent off all the signed forms last weeks which included proof I'd received advice. The CETV doesn't expire until late April so it sounds like I can relax (a bit) as it doesn't matter how long the DB scheme take .

Watching the markets in turmoil might not be a relaxing pastime. 

michael1234

Hoenir said:

michael1234 said:

Macron: That sounds like good news for me? The IFA sent off all the signed forms last weeks which included proof I'd received advice. The CETV doesn't expire until late April so it sounds like I can relax (a bit) as it doesn't matter how long the DB scheme take .

Watching the markets in turmoil might not be a relaxing pastime. 

That's why you invest over the long term 

michael1234

So thank goodness my pension story is nearly at an end. The investments in the DC element of my old pension are not visibile in my account so I assume sold now.

Of course I think I was a bit unlucky to have a possible black swan event take place just when all my investments were being sold into cash. I still don't know exactly what day they were sold but I think around the current bottom of the s&p 500. Had my investments not been sold I would have just ridden it out even if takes a few years to get back to the last peak. Now that they are sold and will soon be accessible as a cash fund, I'll have to time my re-entrance which I know is impossible. Perhaps I'll drip the money in over a 6 months period.

Interesting the pension industry gives the impression of safety first to the point of overriding individuals decisions for their "own good". I was told a hundred times about the "great" benefits I'd be leaving behind and a few other risks but not once about the risks of exiting financial markets in a big way for 2 weeks during the transfer. In retrospect, its a pretty obvious and big risk for any transfer. That said, the IFA did almost exactly what I wanted and it would feel morally wrong to apportion any blame.

MeteredOut

michael1234 said:

So thank goodness my pension story is nearly at an end. The investments in the DC element of my old pension are not visibile in my account so I assume sold now.

Of course I think I was a bit unlucky to have a possible black swan event take place just when all my investments were being sold into cash. I still don't know exactly what day they were sold but I think around the current bottom of the s&p 500. Had my investments not been sold I would have just ridden it out even if takes a few years to get back to the last peak. Now that they are sold and will soon be accessible as a cash fund, I'll have to time my re-entrance which I know is impossible. Perhaps I'll drip the money in over a 6 months period.

Interesting the pension industry gives the impression of safety first to the point of overriding individuals decisions for their "own good". I was told a hundred times about the "great" benefits I'd be leaving behind and a few other risks but not once about the risks of exiting financial markets in a big way for 2 weeks during the transfer. In retrospect, its a pretty obvious and big risk for any transfer. That said, the IFA did almost exactly what I wanted and it would feel morally wrong to apportion any blame.

Congratulations, I guess, but it looks like luck really was against you in the timing of the de-investment . If you could have stopped it happening, would you have?

Even if the events of the last few weeks had not happened, I'm still not convinced it was the right choice, but at least its nearly over with now.

wjr4

michael1234 said:

Interesting the pension industry gives the impression of safety first to the point of overriding individuals decisions for their "own good". I was told a hundred times about the "great" benefits I'd be leaving behind and a few other risks but not once about the risks of exiting financial markets in a big way for 2 weeks during the transfer. In retrospect, it’s a pretty obvious and big risk for any transfer. That said, the IFA did almost exactly what I wanted and it would feel morally wrong to apportion any blame.

Your suitability report will say this somewhere on it. 

Hoenir

michael1234 said:

Hoenir said:

michael1234 said:

Macron: That sounds like good news for me? The IFA sent off all the signed forms last weeks which included proof I'd received advice. The CETV doesn't expire until late April so it sounds like I can relax (a bit) as it doesn't matter how long the DB scheme take .

Watching the markets in turmoil might not be a relaxing pastime. 

That's why you invest over the long term 

Unnerving though when the foundations start to crack and what you assumed to be safe isn't.