Jims Story… Conclusion. October 2013

In the previous two blogs we discussed Jims Life Assurance and Serious Illness cover. Jim had originally only contacted me to review his Mortgage Protection cover, but since realised that he could properly review other areas of his finances that he had avoided for so long.

Jim had worked in several different companies over the years and didn’t really keep a track of his Pension arrangements that he had built up. The mere thought of chasing up information from different companies (even remembering which company might have one of his Pensions) wrecked Jim’s head. Who would he contact? Was there still a Pension there? Where was the Pension invested? What could he actually do with these funds, if anything?

I sat down with Jim and helped him put together some steps to help us find his Pensions. Once we had all the different Pension information on hand it was easier to advise Jim what exactly he was able to do with each Pension.

In some instances he was better off leaving his Pension where it was (Defined Benefit arrangement). In another instance he found it preferable to move the Pension arrangement into his own policy in his own name.

When moving his existing Pensions into alternative arrangements, I made sure that Jim notified the Pension Provider of all important information. Sometimes specified information is not clarified for one reason or another and it can have huge ramifications for a person at retirement, particularly in relation to their Tax free lump sum entitlement.

When we had finished the exercise Jim knew exactly what he had in all Pension arrangements and had an idea of what he might expect at retirement. He was delighted that he now had a simple way of tracking his Pension investments.