Chancellor and FCA told: Protect savers with cooling off period
The chief executive of an advisory firm has written to the Chancellor and FCA bosses calling for a 30 day cooling off period for those seeking access to all of their pension funds, unless they have had regulated advice.
Jack McVitie, chief executive officer at LEBC Group, has sent a letter to George Osborne and Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the FCA.
He outlined concerns over those following pension freedom options and withdrawing pension funds without impartial regulated independent advice.
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In the letter, he said: "By accessing too much of their pension savings too soon, large immediate tax liabilities will be incurred by those who are not tax aware and this could reduce their long term income sustainability, leading to disillusion with the new pensions regime and financial consequences for future social security support and the Treasury.
"In order to safeguard these individuals from potential disappointment and to ensure that the access reforms are successful, we would ask the Government to consider an amendment to the current requirements for access to pension funds where no regulated independent advice has been taken.
"This could include a 30 day cancellation period in which the consumer could be given a simple statement; outlining the tax liability due on the funds to be paid out and a warning about the need to preserve pensions for longer term income needs.
"This period for reflection might also recommend that, if unsure about their options and the longer term impact on income, they should consider seeking independent regulated advice before progressing further."
He said: "We hope that these concerns and our simple solution will be given due consideration as it is based on many years of experience of advising thousands of retirees each year.
"We are anxious that the reforms will be successfully implemented and have a long lasting benefit to retirement savings in the UK."