Finding a Pension IFA

The range of qualifications an IFA can have in order to be able to give specialist pensions advice is expanding, reflecting the changes taking place with pensions regulation. When choosing for an adviser to give you pensions advice, there are other qualifications for consumers to watch out for such as the advanced pensions paper, “G60”, or “AF3”, exams “J04” and “J05”, which deal with post-retirement planning, and the APMI pension qualification. There is also the pensions simplification paper CF9.

Those shopping around for independent financial advice should be sure to enquire about the qualifications an adviser has, but should also bear in mind it might be as helpful and meaningful to enquire about an adviser’s experience in certain areas.

Many IFAs offer the first half hour consultation free of charge, giving you an opportunity to find out more about their expertise and how they will be able to help you.

Finding an adviser in your neighbourhood is easy. IFA Promotion holds the details of over 9,000 IFA firms throughout the UK on its database, along with details of advanced pension qualifications held by these IFAs. By visiting www.unbiased.co.uk, you can obtain details of local IFAs with additional specialist pension qualifications.

An IFA will be able to help you decide what action to take. Questions include:

• How much should I save into my pension?
• How much can I save without incurring a tax penalty?
• What are my options when I come to take benefits from my pension?
• Now the tax treatment for all types of pensions is similar, how can I tell which are best suited to my needs?
• Is there any action I ought to consider because of rule changes at A-Day to safeguard my benefits and make the most of new tax breaks?

TABLE 1

Proposed contribution annual allowances

2008/2009 £235,000
2009/2010 £245,000
2010/2011 £255,000

TABLE 2

Proposed lifetime allowance limits

2008/2009 £1.65m
2009/2010 £1.75m
2010/2011 £1.80m

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