Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Concept of Income Drawdown

Income drawdown is also called pension drawdown. It’s a kind of pension withdrawal in which you take out a portion of your pension amount and the remaining amount keep invested so that it could increase with time. Pension drawdown is a very good alternative to purchasing an annuity. With it you can withdraw an amount of up to 25% of your total pension amount; there is no tax imposed on this withdrawal.

Pension drawdown offers you a high degree of flexibility in the use of your pension amount. The remaining amount in your pension account could be transferred on to your children or dependents in case of your death.

Income drawdown is best suited for individuals who have larger funds or those having multiple retirement income sources. This is because there is a certain amount of risk involved in it; that is why it is sometimes called unsecured pension. Although there is an element of risk, but the reward of this risk taking is also great. The risk is that the income generated from this source tends to vary within fixed minimum and maximum limits. The minimum return could be naught while maximum could be as high as over hundred percent (this much high return is not possible with other schemes in the class). The income drawdown rates may at times differ between men and women.

Income drawdown facility is available until the age of 75 years. After 75 years the drawdown scheme is generally terminated and the remaining money is transferred to Alternative Secured Pension (ASP). The option of traditional annuity plan to receive regular income is open even after the termination of the pension drawdown facility.

You may get more information about the concept of income drawdown and other associated information like income drawdown rates, income drawdown death benefits, income drawdown calculator, etc., at: http://www.gerardassociates.co.uk/.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Making Safe and Secure Retirement Planning through Experts’ Help

Retirement is one of the crucial stages of one’s life when one’s income gets limited as one is unable to get regular monthly income. This may be due to critical illness, age or accidents. Therefore it is commonly suggested by the financial experts and planners to save and invest money wisely and plan for one’s retirement. Proper retirement planning will prevent the post-retirement period to get troublesome or difficult due to financial constraints. Investment in pension plans is one of the best options as this offers tax deductions and good interest benefits.

If you are an employee in UK and desire to consolidate your retirement funds in tax saving structure then you must avail the services of financial experts who will guide you to do so through hmrc QROPS. Qrops schemes facilitate the employees or any person contributing to a pension fund registered in UK qrops pensions scheme to transfer the fund overseas to a different country through proper method. There may be many different methods to plan one’s post retirement period. One may either like to go for pension income drawdown from one’s pension fund after retirement or purchase an annuity plan which may provide them different sets of advantages than the former.

Through proper overseas pension transfer schemes the employees or investors in UK can transfer one’s pension funds to one’s desired account in one’s preferred country. The Qrops transfer schemes facilitate the employees of UK to move freely to other countries and not get restrained due to the funds or debts liabilities. Thus with the help of certified financial advisors one can make safe, secure and profitable retirement planning which will help one to realize one’s financial goals and enable to pass one’s post-retirement period without much difficulties.

For other associated information, you may visit: http://www.gerardassociates.co.uk/.

The Major Benefits of QROPS Pension Transfer

QROPS stands for Qualifying Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme. It is an overseas pension scheme that fulfills certain requirements so that it can be recognized by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). QROPS can receive transfer of U.K. pension benefits without the need of any unauthorized payment and scheme sanction charges.

QROPS is applicable for the U.K. residents who emigrate from U.K. to some other country, having built up a pension fund within a scheme permitted by HMRC. It is also applicable in the case of persons born abroad who have build up benefits in an HMRC authorized U.K. pension scheme and who decide to return to their home country, i.e., U.K.

QROPS offers many important advantages for the natives of U.K. who are pension holders; following are some of its major benefits:

Tax Savings – You can withdraw a lump sum amount of up to 30% from your QROPS; this amount will be tax free. This amount could be more than 30% at times, depending upon the rules and regulations of certain jurisdictions. If you are leaving your QROPS pension amount to your heir(s) after your death, this amount would be exempted from inheritance tax.

Investment Flexibility – With a QROPS account you get the option of choosing from a wide range of investment options. You can also get advice regarding investment from your QROPS advisor.

Currency Exchange Benefit – QROPS also provides you currency exchange benefit. The benefit is in the form of savings you made on currency exchange. Suppose you are withdrawing your pension amount in the country where your QROPS was set up, in this case, you don’t have to transfer money from U.K. to your overseas account. This means that the amount you receive will not get reduced owing to the variation in exchange rates. Also, you will not be required to pay any service charge for currency exchange.

Transfer of Funds – In case of the pensioner’s death, all unused pension funds in his/her account would be transferred to the beneficiaries. There is no need to take an annuity or pay U.K. tax charge upon death of the pensioner.

Consolidating Pension Funds – QROPS allows you to consolidate multiple small pension funds into one. This option provides economies of scale by reducing administration costs.

Gerard Associated Pvt. Ltd. is a Financial Services Authority authorized and regulated firm. The firm deals in financial matters related to Pensions, Investments, Asset Protection, and Tax Solutions, but their specialization is in QROPS. To see the HMRC QROPS list and to get other associated information, you may visit: http://www.gerardassociates.co.uk/.