Many clients ask, how long does a Final Salary pension transfer take? The answer depends largely on your initial advisory process. During this stage, you and your financial adviser will review your current pension and choose the best approach for your Final Salary pension.
At Cameron James, one of the first questions new clients ask is about the timeline and cost involved in transferring their Final Salary pension.
In late 2021, the quickest transfer process typically takes around two to three months, provided you actively participate throughout. This includes fact-finding and report writing, through submission to the UK ceding scheme, their due diligence, and finally transferring to your new SIPP provider.
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Is Transferring Final Salary Pension Easy?
Final Salary pension transfers involve complex procedures. Typically, the process takes 3-4 months, but sometimes it can take longer. It’s important to know that the Final Salary pension CETV is difficult to obtain and only valid for three months. After this period, you’ll need to request a new CETV, which may incur extra fees. You may also wait until the following year when the first free CETV of the year becomes available again.
Why Is My Final Salary Pension Transfer Taking So Long?
There are several factors to consider if your Final Salary pension transfer is delayed. Working with a financial adviser who lacks specific expertise in Final Salary schemes can significantly prolong the process. Inexperienced advisers may submit incorrect paperwork, be unfamiliar with the requirements of the ceding scheme, or overlook essential details, such as the need to provide a birth certificate for certain schemes.
Choosing an inexperienced or careless adviser can lead to unnecessary delays, potentially extending the transfer period to nine months or more. This delay may result in your pension funds remaining out of the market longer than necessary, which could negatively impact your investment growth.
At Cameron James, we maintain a comprehensive database of every transfer we have completed. When onboarding a new client, we review this data to identify opportunities to expedite the transfer process. This is especially important because your CETV is fixed at a specific point in time. For example, if your CETV is £1 million and your transfer takes six months instead of four, you may miss out on two months’ worth of potential growth.
How To Find A Good Independent Financial Adviser UK?
To identify the best financial advisers on the market, we always suggest you look into their background, cost, experience, and qualifications. Doing this due diligence will help clarify whether or not you can trust the company and advice you are going to receive.
Pension Transfer Charges
We believe that while doing a Final Salary pension transfer, it is critical to consider a confluence of issues, including cost. Check to see if the company you're working with is upfront about their pricing. Are you aware of all the charges involved? Are there any additional setup costs? Is there anything else hidden?
At Cameron James, we make sure to include everything at the start while moving quickly. Of course, the cost is crucial since no one wants to spend more money than necessary, as long as you're getting decent market pricing, which is what we give at Cameron James.
IFA Qualification
Check the experience of your Final Salary pension transfer adviser; ask them challenging questions like, “Have you transferred a mercer pension before?” When was the last time you completed a Final Salary pension transfer? Do you know anyone involved in the scheme?
If they answer, ‘No, I haven't moved one of these pensions before, or I transferred one twelve months ago,'. It's unlikely that they'll be capable of completing it quickly.
IFA Administrator
Also, ask them challenging questions such as, “What is your administrative support?” How many administrators are working on these schemes? Cameron James has a full-time administrative staff. They primarily serve for the sake of chasing.
The team consists of four members and is known as the UK Scheme. They work every day from Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Normally, we contact one provider; we have five customers that we need to discuss with that one provider, and they find dealing with a firm that has a higher number of clients more efficient than dealing with one-off people.
Why Trusting Your Final Salary Pension Transfer with Cameron James
Cameron James provides UK qualified and EU MiFID II regulated advice for Expats to make more informed decisions. Cameron James Finance has existing clients in 23 countries across 6 continents. The company is growing rapidly as more expats make us their trusted adviser every month.
Cameron James guides our clients with EU MiFID regulated advice from an RDR UK qualified adviser experienced in advising expats globally. Our Costs are transparent, so you know exactly how much you are paying for our advice in advance. No surprises. No last-minute add-ons. This allows you to make more informed decisions on you and your family’s future. Hit the button below for a free initial consultation with one of our regulated and experienced IFAs.