Free Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions (FSAVC)

• You might need to pay tax depending on your circumstances and the options you choose.
• Tax rules can also change in the future. You may want to seek advice.
• Once you take tax-free cash from your pension, it can't be cancelled or reversed.

• The amount available to provide benefits will be reduced.
• You’ll lose any additional benefits, like life cover or Waiver of Premium.
• You may not be able to restart payments.
• There may be a change to charges or additional charges. Existing charges for managing your plan will continue.
• If your employer also makes payments these might be affected. Your employer should be able to help you.
• There could be an impact on any means-tested benefits.
• You may have to make a decision about what to do with your plan.

• If you reduce your payments the amount available when you take your benefits will be reduced.
• Charges on your plan may change.
• Any additional benefits, like life cover or Waiver of Premium, could be affected.
• The amount of tax relief you get is related to the amount you pay.
• You could exceed your Annual Allowance, resulting in a tax charge.
• If your employer also makes payments these might be affected. Your employer should be able to help you.
• There could be an impact any state or salary related benefits that you may be entitled to.
• Depending on your plan and how close you are to taking your benefits, it may not be possible to increase payments to the With-Profits Fund.

There’s no guarantee that one investment will perform any better than another. So in making your decision, you should consider the following.

• Exit charges - Leaving your current plan may incur an exit fee.
• Loss of guarantees and benefits - Any guarantees, benefits, options and features under your existing plan may be lost and this could affect the benefits you receive.
• Different features - The new plan may have different investment options – check if they meet your needs.
• No performance guarantee - There’s no guarantee a new plan will perform better than your current plan.
• Charges - Charges applied to your new plan may be higher or lower than what you pay now.
• With-Profits Fund impact - Transferring out of the With-Profits Fund could result in a Market Value Reduction (MVR) which can reduce the value of any withdrawals taken from the fund.
• No performance guarantee - The new plan may not perform better than your current one.
• Possible growth loss - Transfers take time, and your money won’t be invested during the process.
• Partial transfers - You might not need to transfer your entire plan – call us to find out more.
• Seek advice - Pension transfers are a complex area of financial planning, and getting the decision wrong could significantly impact the benefits you receive. You should seek financial advice before proceeding.