Is it too late to open a sipp before 5/4/24 tax deadline
Nope! You can open one today. If you need to start any transfers in, you’ve got time too!
Does your sipp have a drawdown facility?
Not currently, the current pension administer Freetrade uses doesn’t support this feature yet.
We offer something called an Uncrystallised Fund Pension Lump Sum if you are over 55 and want to draw down your pension. However you should also talk with an adviser to understand if this is right for you.
1 Like
How long does a pension transfer normally take. Its the only thing putting m off doing it ?
I just got a S and S transfer through in two weeks, SIPP may be slightly more complex.
Transfers should have no effect on tax deadlines, the investments are already in a pension. You can have more than one pension at a time so you can open a new SIPP and contribute before the deadline while transferring another
3 Likes
Timelines can vary depending on whether you’re transferring cash or stock and the provider you’re transferring from.
1 Like
Think I will wait as not sure I have time for the offer.
Thanks for the responce.
If you initiate the transfer before the deadline you still get the bonus, reshare less of when the transfer completes I believe.
Called the pension provider and they said I have to fill in a form and they have to make a company decision on if the transfer can go ahead. Im a bit confused on that.
They can’t force you to keep a pension with them however depending on the type of pension you have you might have to take advice.
I’ve never had that problem but my pensions have all been with large well known companies who have a fairly standard process
I’m guessing some kind of declaration form. I had to do similar. Plus ID checks etc.
@acamp I am hoping you can help.
I have a friend who has £5,000 invested with MoneyBox. He wants to come over to FreeTrade but may start off with a GIA account and then move into a S&S ISA once he has accumulated a decent amount (otherwise the payment for a S&S ISA isn’t worthwile for him).
Can he transfer to FT into a GIA (sell at money box, rebuy at FT), and then automatically transition into a S&S ISA in around 12 months time without having to sell and buy again? Or would he have to sell in his GIA and rebuy in an ISA?
Hi @MJRInvests if he invests in a GIA then he would need to sell these shares, transfer the cash, and rebuy the shares in his ISA, to get them into an ISA at a later date.
Selling (and dividends) in a GIA could trigger the need to file a tax return too (even if no capital gains are owed).
If he currently has this money in an ISA, transferring it across (even as cash) would mean that he doesn’t use any ISA allowance for this or the next tax year (transfers from an ISA do not count against your annual allowance).
Hope that clarifies.
Alex
2 Likes
Amazing - thank you 
1 Like
In addition to what Alex has said , your friend should consider the following
It depends on if they are investing in a GIA or an S&S ISA at Moneybox?
If they are invested in a GIA then Freetrade is cheaper as the Freetrade GIA has no platform fee.
If he is invested in a S&S ISA then there are costs and features to compare.
With £5k invested in Moneybox he’s paying around £35 a year in fees (excluding fund fees)
A Freetrade GIA on a basic account is obviously free. An ISA would be at least £60 a year so about double the cost of paying yearly.
So it would be worthwhile seeing what funds he is invested in and what the fees are for those funds. It may have savings to invest in a cheaper ETF at Freetrade.
(As Alex mentioned you don’t really want to sell your shares from an ISA into a GIA unless you don’t mind losing your allowance for this year (do it before April if this is the decision they take) and the nature of an ISA means you must put into the ISA in cash unless it’s employee SIP shares (not relevant for Moneybox)).
Obviously Freetrade gives a wider range of securities to invest in so this is a benefit of the slightly more expensive platform.
He has a S&S ISA so I’ve already gone through the costs with him.
He does own some pretty rubbish funds on there though (I’m telling him to sell the bottom 2):
Just having a look at MoneyBox now to see if there are any good funds in addition to the top 2. Once he hits approx. £10k, he will transfer to FT
2 Likes
Those fees aren’t to bad so that’s better than I thought (not sure about the property one), I have a Moneybox account but only for the savings.
One thing to do, keep an eye out in the near future to see if Freetrade do and ISA offer. The one just now starts at 10k (ISA/SIPP offer) so not useful for him with 5k but they’ve done other share offers in the past for transferring accounts. Also you have the free share offer when he does transfer give him your referral.
1 Like