You may have retirement benefits in other pension arrangements including those already paying benefits to you. These could include employer sponsored pension schemes or personal pensions. The assets within these arrangements can be used to fund your SIPP.

The following courses of action are open to you and should be discussed with your financial adviser.

• Transfer the value of the investments in the other arrangement(s) into your SIPP in cash form or by in specie transfer. This will increase the funds under your control and available for investment. In specie transfer of assets can be a complex process involving several different parties and will usually take longer than cash transfers.
• Assign the other arrangement(s) to become an asset of your SIPP. This increases the overall value of the SIPP and contributions to the other arrangement may continue, unless enhanced protection or fixed protection has been claimed. This option is often taken when there are reasons why it is not appropriate to encash investments. This could include a penalty if the funds are moved, or the loss of certain rights such as guaranteed annuity rates.
• Make the other arrangement(s) paid-up and leave the funds with the existing provider. This option may be preferred if there are penalties on the fund if a transfer proceeds, or if there are guaranteed annuity rates attached to the arrangement and you do not wish it to be assigned.
• Continue to run the other arrangement(s) alongside your new SIPP. Care must be taken to ensure that contributions to all your pension arrangements do not exceed the annual allowance.

Please note that your total pension fund will be tested against the lifetime allowance when you take benefits and at age 75 if you have not taken your benefits. If the lifetime allowance is exceeded, there will be an additional lifetime allowance charge unless you have the necessary pension protection.

For details about transferring property to a Rowanmoor Pensions SIPP please read our SIPP Commercial Property Guide.

This information relates to the Rowanmoor Pensions Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). If you would like to know more details regarding the information provided on this page please send your questions via the enquiry box on the right hand side or email us. Alternatively please visit our SIPP literature library.