Key features of the Flexible Pension Plan

Transcription

1 For customers Key features of the Flexible Pension Plan Contents Its aims 2 Your commitment 2 Risks 3 Questions and answers 4 Other information 8 How to contact us 9 The Financial Conduct Authority is a financial services regulator. It requires us, Aegon, to give you this important information to help you to decide whether our Flexible Pension Plan is right for you. You should read this document carefully so that you understand what you re buying, and then keep it safe for future reference.

2 It s important that you read this document, as it gives you the main points about your Flexible Pension Plan (FPP). You should read it along with your illustration. This key features refers to our current Flexible Pension Plan product terms, as at April Its aims To build up a sum of money, in a tax-efficient way, that will be used to provide an income for your retirement, with the option to take part of your plan value as a tax-free cash sum. Your commitment To meet our minimum contribution levels. To make a regular monthly or yearly payment or to make at least one single payment at the start of the plan. To allow your plan to grow until you take benefits. To use your plan to provide for your retirement or death benefits. You can t have access to your money in any other circumstances. To review your payments regularly to check if you re on track to meet your income requirements when you take benefits. If regular contributions are made into your plan and then stop, the value of your pension will be lower than shown in your illustration. To tell us if your circumstances change. For example, if you re no longer resident in the UK or you no longer have UK earnings. 2

3 Risks Here we tell you about the key risks that you should be aware of. The value of your plan can fall as well as rise, and isn t guaranteed. You may get back less than you pay in. You can invest in a range of investment funds which have different levels and types of risk. You can find more details on our funds and specific risks at aegon.co.uk/funds In some circumstances, we may have to delay a transfer or switch, for example, if you invest in a fund that invests directly in property, you may not be able to cash in or switch your investment when you want to. This is because market conditions may make it difficult to sell properties at a fair price. This may be for as long as 12 months. If there is a delay, we ll use the fund price on the day the transfer or switch is completed. This may not be the same as the price on the day you asked for the transfer or switch. If you transfer from another pension plan, the final pension benefits you ll receive may be less than you would ve got if you d stayed in your existing scheme under the existing terms. It may not always be in your best interests to transfer your existing pension benefits, as you may be giving up any guaranteed benefits or protections. You ll remain liable to pay your adviser any agreed payments you ve asked us to facilitate if the value of your plan isn t enough to allow us to deduct the agreed amount from it. If you ve registered for enhanced or fixed protection, you may lose this entitlement under certain circumstances, including setting up a new pension plan like this one, and/or paying contributions to any registered pension scheme that relates to you. If this applies to you, please speak to a financial adviser. If you change your mind and cancel, and the value of your plan has fallen, we may not pay the full amount back. For more information on cancelling, see Can I change my mind and cancel my plan?. What you get back when you take your pension benefits can t be guaranteed, and may be lower than shown in your illustration. This could happen for a number of reasons, for example if: contributions to your plan stop or are reduced; you start taking your pension benefits earlier than shown in your illustration; investment performance is lower than the assumed performance in your illustration; charges increase in future; interest rates are lower than the rates used in your illustration; or tax rules change. If you decide to take pension benefits as a lump sum instead of a regular income, normally 25% of the lump sum is tax free and you ll be taxed at your marginal rate on the rest. This means that you could move into a higher tax bracket. Also, you should consider how you ll generate an income once you ve taken your pension benefits as a lump sum. We recommend that you discuss this with a financial adviser before you make a decision. 3

4 Questions and answers What s a Flexible Pension Plan? It s a plan that helps you save for retirement, in a tax-efficient way, that will be used to provide an income for your retirement. We ll set out fuller details of the terms and conditions of the plan in the policy booklet and schedule that we ll send you when we set up the plan for you. The plan is provided under a personal pension scheme which is operated under the rules of the scheme. This isn t a Stakeholder pension plan. However, a Stakeholder plan is generally available and may meet your needs at least as well as this plan. How much can be paid into my plan each tax year? Both you and your employer can pay into your plan regularly on a monthly or yearly basis. You can make changes to your regular contributions at any time, as long as you still meet the minimum contribution level of 100 a month or 1,200 a year. You can receive tax relief on contributions up to the greater of 100% of your relevant UK earnings or, if higher, 3,600 in each tax year. This tax relief limit applies to all contributions made by you or someone else other than your employer, to all pension plans that you have. The amount of tax relief depends on your individual circumstances. If the value of pensions savings made by or for you (including by your employer) in the 2016/17 tax year are more than the annual allowance, a tax charge will apply to any excess (unless you have unused allowance you can carry forward). For the tax year 2016/17, your annual allowance will be 40,000 unless you are a high earner (broadly, your income including the value of pension contributions is more than 150,000). If you are a high earner, your annual allowance will be an amount between 10,000 and 40,000, depending on your income amount. Whatever your annual allowance level, the amount that can be paid by or for you into money purchase arrangements (like this one) without a tax charge arising may be restricted to the money purchase annual allowance, which for the 2016/17 tax year is 10,000. The restriction applies if you take, or have already taken, certain types of pension benefit - for example, an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS) or income from a flexi-access drawdown plan. Special rules apply in the year that the money purchase annual allowance rules first apply to you. Please speak to your financial adviser for more information. Where are my contributions invested? We invest your contributions into the fund, or funds, that you decide best suits your needs. You can choose from our wide range of funds managed by us, or managed externally by one of your chosen investment managers from the range that we offer. The funds all have varying investment strategies and cover different levels of risk and potential reward. So you can choose the funds to suit your individual investment strategy. You can change the funds you re invested in. This is also known as switching. You can get more information about switching in and out of various funds from our Investment fund allocation procedure and Investment fund cancellation procedure at aegon.co.uk/support If you give us incomplete or unclear investment instructions, we ll invest your money in line with our Investment fund allocation procedure. We ll send you a copy of this once your plan has been set up. Can you take payments from my plan to pay a financial adviser? Yes, we can arrange for payments of adviser charge to be taken from your plan to cover this. If you d like more information, please see our Adviser Charge & Consultancy Charge Terms and Conditions. 4

5 Questions and answers Where can I find out about the product charges? Your illustration will show the charges applicable to you, and the effect they may have on your plan. The yearly fund management charge (also known as the annual management charge or AMC) covers the costs associated with managing your plan and investments. We take these charges for the duration of your plan. We may vary the charges in future, for the reasons set out in the policy booklet that we ll send you shortly after you start your plan. Can I change my mind and cancel my plan? Yes. If you decide to cancel your pension plan, you should complete the cancellation form that we ll send you and return it to us within 30 days. This will also cancel any waiver of contribution cover you have applied for. You can cancel just your waiver of contribution cover (leaving the pension contribution in place) by writing to us within 30 days of getting your notice about the right to cancel. (If we accept your application for waiver of contribution cover, you can also ask us to cancel the cover later, but then we wouldn t refund any waiver premiums already paid.) For more information on waiver of contribution cover, see What happens if I fall ill and can t afford to pay my contributions?. Once we ve received your cancellation instruction we ll sell any investments you ve purchased and return any monies to you. For single contributions you may get back less than you invested if your investment value has fallen before we receive your cancellation request. If you decide to cancel, any transfer payment(s) will be paid back to your previous scheme or provider. We may not be able to pay the full amount back to the transferring scheme if the value of your investment has fallen in the meantime. In addition, your previous scheme or provider may decide not to accept the transfer payment back into the scheme. If this happens, then you must choose another registered pension scheme for the transfer. If you decide to cancel within the 30 day cancellation period, we ll reclaim any adviser charge that we ve already passed on to your adviser and repay that to you. You may still be liable to pay your adviser any outstanding charges. If you don t cancel within the cancellation period your plan will continue. Can I change my contributions or take a break? You can make a one-off single contribution at any time, as long as you meet our minimum contribution level of 2,500 initially, then 499 thereafter. You can change, stop or take a break from paying contributions at any time and leave your fund in the plan to benefit from potential investment growth. However, any contribution break is likely to reduce your future pension. You should speak to a financial adviser if you re thinking of taking a contribution break. Can I transfer my other pension plan(s) into this plan? If you have a pension plan with another company, you may be able to transfer it into this plan. The minimum transfer payment(s) that we ll accept into the plan is 2,500 for the first transfer payment and 499 for additional transfer payments. If you re transferring from a scheme with defined benefits or certain other guarantees you may be required by law to take independent financial advice before you can transfer those benefits to your plan. See a financial adviser for further information. We recommend you take financial advice as you could be giving up valuable guarantees. What will happen to my transfer payment? We invest your transfer payment in accordance with your instructions. If you give us incomplete or unclear investment instructions, we ll invest your money in line with our Investment fund allocation procedure at aegon.co.uk/support 5

6 Questions and answers Can I transfer this plan to another personal pension plan later? Yes, you can transfer this plan to a plan in another registered pension scheme. There s no charge for doing this. The illustration gives examples of how much you could transfer to another plan, depending on when you transfer. If you re considering a transfer of benefit, please speak to a financial adviser to make sure it s in your best interest to do so. If you transfer your benefits to another scheme or provider, any initial adviser charge remaining will be deducted from the value of your plan. What about tax? Your contributions (and any paid on your behalf as member contributions) are paid net of basic rate income tax. We then collect the tax relief from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), but apply this to your plan as if paid to us at the same time as your contribution. Basic rate tax relief is currently 20%. So, if you re contributing 80 a month, 100 will automatically be invested in your plan that s an additional 20 at no extra cost to you. If you re in a higher tax band, you can claim the extra relief from HMRC on your yearly tax return or by approaching your tax office to adjust your tax code. The value of any tax relief depends on your individual circumstances. Generally, growth in the value of the plan is free from tax. The lifetime allowance is the limit on the value of tax-advantaged pension savings you can have under all registered pension schemes you re a member of before tax charges apply. If the total value of all your pension funds amounts to more than your lifetime allowance, then, unless you have enhanced protection, when you take your benefits you will have to pay tax on the excess. You ll find information about the lifetime allowance here aegon.co.uk/lifetimeallowance When can I take my pension benefits? You can take your pension benefits from your plan at any time between the ages of 55 and 75 (including while you re still working). You may be able to take your pension benefits earlier than age 55 if you re in ill health or have a protected pension age. If you think you have a protected pension age, speak to a financial adviser for more information. What choices will I have when I want to take my pension benefits? We ll write to you before you take your pension benefits and give you details of all your options, including: a tax-free lump sum. This is normally up to 25% of the value of the benefits you re taking at the time, but may be more or less than this depending on your circumstances and also subject to any lifetime allowance restrictions; taking the full plan value as a cash lump sum. Usually 25% of the amount you take is tax-free and the balance is taxed as income; a drawdown pension*; an annuity from us or another provider; or a combination of the above. *If you d like a drawdown pension you d need to transfer your fund to this type of plan before taking benefits. If you don t want to take your pension benefits before the age of 75, you can transfer the value of your plan to another plan, with us or another provider, and choose to remain invested. If, by the day before your 75th birthday, you haven t told us how you d like to take your pension benefits from your plan, we ll assume you want to take a pension income with us. This will be paid as set out in the policy conditions. 6

7 Questions and answers What might I get when I want to take my pension benefits? The illustration gives examples of what you may receive. However, your final plan value, which is used to provide a pension income may depend on the following: how much is paid in; how long you contribute to your plan; investment performance, which may go down as well as up; plan charges; if you re paying an adviser charge from your plan; or how much tax-free cash you take. Will my contributions be paid if I fall ill? You can choose to take waiver of contribution benefit as a separate plan set up alongside your pension plan. The waiver of contribution plan would pay your contributions if you became ill and couldn t contribute to your plan. You can apply for this benefit using the same application form for the pension plan. The cost of this cover can vary depending on your occupation and health. We ll let you know the cost when you apply. Any waiver cover will stop: when you reach age 60, even if your retirement date is over age 60 if you stop paying into your pension plan if you cancel your pension plan or your waiver of contribution cover, see Can I change my mind? for more information. What happens to this plan if I die? We ll use the value of your pension plan to provide death benefits. We ll normally pay this as a cash lump sum. We ll decide who to pay the lump sum to, and we take into account your circumstances when you die and anyone you ve stated you want the money to go to. If you have placed the plan under trust, we ll pay it to the trustees of that trust. If you die before age 75, any lump sum death benefit will be tax free provided that it s paid within two years of us becoming aware of your death. It will be tested against your available lifetime allowance. If the lump sum is paid after the two-year period, or you die after age 75, the full amount will be taxed at the beneficiary s marginal rate (where the beneficiary is an individual and isn t receiving the funds as a trustee, personal representative, company director or partner of a firm), otherwise at 45%. In this case, there is no test against your lifetime allowance. The lump sum death benefit normally doesn t count towards the value of your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. You can choose to have a pension paid to your dependants instead of a lump sum. This wouldn t be tested against your available lifetime allowance, unless you died under age 75 and the annuity is bought within the two-year period. Where the annuity is bought outside the two-year period, your dependants income would be taxable. We ll stop facilitating the payment of any adviser charge, if this applies, from the date we re notified of your death. In addition, for plans set up on or after 1 January 2013, if you die as a direct result of an accident before your plan has been running for five years, we ll pay an additional lump sum equal to 10% of the total contributions and transfer payments paid into your plan. Please refer to your policy conditions for full details, including the exclusions that apply. How will I know how my plan is doing? Every year we ll send you a statement showing how your plan is performing, how much your plan is worth, how much has been paid in, and your estimated pension at your retirement age. You can also access up-to-the-minute information about your plan online, whenever you want it, through our secure online services. We ll send you details on how to register once your plan has been set up. You can check our fund performance and prices on our website at aegon.co.uk/funds 7

8 Other information How to complain We hope you never have to complain, but if you do, the first step is to contact us. If you re not satisfied with our response, you can then raise the issue by contacting the following organisations: The Financial Ombudsman Service Phone: Write to: Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower London E14 9SE financial-ombudsman.org.uk Referring the matter to an ombudsman service won t affect your right to take legal action later on. If you d like a copy of our complaints procedure, please ask us, or you can download it from the Contact us section of our website at aegon.co.uk Time limits We ll tell you about any time limits that may apply and that aren t covered here or in the illustration. You must let us know of any changes to your circumstances or any other details you ve given us. Client categorisation We categorise all of our clients as Retail clients under the Financial Conduct Authority rules for all services and transactions. This helps us to make sure that you receive appropriate disclosure documents from us and that you re made aware of everything you need to know in a timely fashion. Terms and conditions This key features only gives you a summary of the main points of our Flexible Pension Plan. It doesn t include all the definitions, exclusions or terms and conditions. You can find full details in the policy conditions and the Adviser Charge & Consultancy Charge Terms and Conditions. If you need a copy of these, please contact us or visit aegon.co.uk/support We have the right to change some of the terms and conditions. If this happens, we ll write to you and explain the changes. Benefits we may give to your adviser We may give benefits to your adviser or your employer s adviser designed to help them give you an improved service. These benefits may include marketing and promotional support, technical services and training, seminars, travel and accommodation expenses, gifts and hospitality. Your adviser can give you details of any such benefits they receive from us. Communication Our contract with you is in English and all future communication about it will be in English. Law You must live in the UK to get a new FPP. Your plan will be set up and governed by the law of the part of the UK where you live when your FPP starts. Compensation Your plan with us is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we can t meet our obligations (for example, if we were to become insolvent or unable to meet the claims against us). This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Insurance business of this type is generally covered for 100% of the value of the whole claim, without limit. You can get more information about compensation arrangements from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme by calling or visiting fscs.org.uk Visit our website: aegon.co.uk 8

9 How to contact us If you have any general questions, you can write, phone, fax or us. Write to us at: Aegon Edinburgh Park Edinburgh EH12 9SE Phone us on: Fax us on: us at: We might record and monitor calls for security reasons, to help improve our service and to resolve any complaints. If you d like a large print, Braille or audio CD version, please call Visit our website: aegon.co.uk 9

10

11

12 We re proud to be the Lead Partner of British Tennis. Aegon is a brand name of Scottish Equitable plc. Scottish Equitable plc, registered office: Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh EH12 9SE. Registered in Scotland (No ). Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Financial Services Register number An Aegon company Aegon UK plc C RET /16