MMP134: Transferring final salary pensions

New rules governing pension death benefits which came into force in April 2015 have led to a large number of enquiries from people in deferred final salary pensions looking to transfer their benefits elsewhere.

But final salary, or defined benefit pensions are considered the gold standard of retirement planning, so why would these people want to transfer out, and are they crazy even to consider it? In today’s show we’ll look at all the ins and outs of this very thorny issue. This is an important one…

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In this session you will discover:

• Why the new pensions freedoms rules have led to lots of enquiries about transferring final salary pensions
• The reasons people are giving for exploring transferring out
• The mechanics of how transfers work
• The factors you should consider if you're thinking about doing this
• What the risks are in transferring out your defined benefit scheme
• The essential steps you should take before proceeding
• The ultimate reason for NOT proceeding with a final salary scheme transfer

After listening to this session, you may get the impression that I’m absolutely not in favour of transferring DB schemes. That’s not true, but for the vast majority of people the guarantees of DB schemes are worth their weight in gold and when compared to the many risks involved in transferring, 999 out of 1000 schemes will be best left where they are.

Please think very carefully about making the decisions to transfer and do seek competent advice.

Join the conversation

I love to read and respond to your comments, so please do join in and share. Question: Are you looking into transferring your final salary pension scheme? If so, what are your reasons?

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My thanks to AmyInMorden for her review this week!

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