Pension arrangements can usually provide an immediate tax-free lump sum, commonly known as Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS), sum of 25% with the remaining fund generating an income which is subject to Income Tax. Some schemes/providers also allow partial transfers to facilitate added flexibility.

Transferring funds from the existing provider and shopping around on the open market can considerably increase the level of your income. This is because some providers offer better rates than others.

Buying an annuity means using your built-up pension fund to buy the guarantee of an income for life from a company. Before you buy your annuity with another provider, you will still have the option to receive the PCLS from the original pension scheme, but the remaining fund value is passed to the new provider to secure your guaranteed income. The value of your pension income in these circumstances depends on several factors such as your age, current interest rates, the value of your pension fund and the type of pension you choose. Enhanced annuity terms may be available if, for example, you have a life-impairing medical condition.

Under the option of FAD you can choose to immediately take 25% PCLS tax-free from your plan. Instead of buying an annuity with the remainder of the fund, the money remains invested and can continue to benefit from investment performance in a tax-efficient environment. There will be no limit on the income taken which is taxed at marginal rate.

You can vary your income each year and the level of income you choose to take will have an effect on the value of your invested fund which will influence both future levels of income as well as the amount of any annuity income you may choose to buy.

Whilst in the short term many clients wish to consider drawing large amounts of income from their funds, in the medium to long-term it is important that you balance your income requirements with the investment policy to ensure the annuity purchasing power of your pension fund is maintained.

This option allows you to retire gradually. It can make the most tax-efficient use of your pension fund and it also allows you to build up the value of your pension when it suits you.

Firstly, the funds are transferred into the plan. The plan is split into a large number of identical “mini-plans”, from which benefits can be taken at different times. This provides a large degree of control over the amount and timing of the income to be taken.

Income is released by “opening” sufficient numbers of these mini-plans to produce the required level of income. This is achieved by transferring the funds to the FAD element of the plan. When each mini-plan is opened, 25% of its fund value is released as tax-free cash. The residual fund from each mini-plan then remains invested in real assets and an income is drawn directly from this remaining fund. The income that is drawn from the FAD funds can be varied. Each income payment that you receive is therefore made up of part tax-free cash and part (taxable) income from the FAD element of the plan.