“While we welcome the new pension freedoms due next year, everyone must have a clear plan, whether they intend to leave the assets in their tax-advantaged Self-Invested Personal Pension wrapper, withdraw a portion of their savings or even take the lot,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director. “Although pension providers' control systems help to protect savers from fraudsters, the new freedoms increase the danger that people are misled into withdrawing funds to make what are unsuitable investments. Remember that if something looks too good to be true, then it usually is.”
If someone does cold-call a saver, the first thing they should do is check both the caller and their firm are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by checking the register at www.fca.org.uk/register.
Notes for Editors
- Southwark Crown Court this week jailed three men for a combined 28 years for fraud relating to an unregulated Cambodian biofuel investment company which they promoted and sold to investors.
- Under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the first £50,000 of any investment is covered only in the event an authorised investment firm cannot pay for claims against it relating to losses suffered due to bad advice, poor management or misrepresentation, or should the authorised investment firm go bust.
- Since March's Budget, the Government has outlined a series of pension reforms which are to come into force from 6 April 2015 and will give pension savers the ability to withdraw much larger amounts from their pensions than had previously been possible.