Pension - buy out bond enquiry.

Hi,

I have a small pension fund approx 80k that I had left in control of trustees with a firm I used to work for (7 years ago). I am now thinking it might be time to take our a personnel retirement buy out bond.
I would appreciate if anybody has done similar or could suggest what is the best approach and if allowed could recommend what are the
i) Better products.
ii) Better companies to deal with.

Particularly interested in lowest initial & ongoing charges with 100% allocation of the current fund amount.

Many thanks

Hi jxwell

You should be able to get 100% allocation as standard these days. A Bob is a standard product. Are you familiar with how they work. Do you have any prior investment experience I.e funds for the bond. Was your previous scheme db or DC?

The decision needs to be thought through. Per the previous post it depends on the type and status of the scheme you are thinking about leaving. There are certainly some circumstances in which it makes sense to leave the money where it is. Depending on your current circumstances there may be alternatives to a Buy Out Bond such as a transfer to your current scheme or possibly to a PRSA. You describe it as a small fund but €80k is not to be sniffed at and merits a good decision. Basing your decision on "interweb" advice could cost you in the long term. Did you consider talking to a competent Financial Advisor ?

Thanks punter for response I have in the mean time contacted a broker and he is recommending Aviva as a company to go with. He is independant and works with many different companies, Now I know from reading here that if your not paying for the advice how independant is it really ! but even if you do agree an upfront fee with an "independant" advisor the sceptic in me wonders if you end up with the same advice/product really regardless. Even independant advisors have contacts/relationships within their area of expertise surely ?. BOB is my only option as more than 15 years in previous scheme and no current scheme available to me.

Hi , Thanks for your response. I have no previous experience of fund investment but the previous scheme was a DC scheme and I currently have no scheme to contribute to. When I left the company 7 years ago I left it with the scheme as I was told the management costs were paid by the company separately from the contributions made. I do not know if this is still the case or if that was unusual ?

That sounds unusual but maybe they were paying a fee to an advisor instead of commission.... there would still definitely be an annual mgt charge and possibly a policy fee in some instances, can you find out what your old charges currently are in the scheme ad to compare this with a potential b.o.b....also check what funds your in at present..ring the current life office and ask them for a breakdown of charges..