DECIDING TOTRANSFERA guide to moving your retirement savings

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Your employer set up a pension plan for you with Royal London.

You now have the option to transfer the retirement savings you’ve built up in your previous plan into your plan with us.

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to transferring retirement savings. So this guide provides key information to help you make an informed decision.

ContentsGetting started 4A bit about our scheme 5Consider transferring 6Make your decision 10Request paperwork 11Complete the form 12Contact us 13Glossary 14

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GETTINGSTARTED

In this guide you’ll find more information about what’s involved, to help you decide if transferring your retirement savings is right for you.

How to use this guideYou should read each section carefully along with the rest of your pack. We’ve included some information about the scheme with us in this guide too.

We know pensions technical terms aren’t exactly everyday phrases. So you’ll find a short glossary at the back to help you.

This guide doesn’t provide any financial advice. So if you’re unsure whether transferring your retirement savings is right for you or not, you should speak to an adviser.

There are risks to consider when transferring retirement savings, which we’ve highlighted throughout this guide. Look out for the binoculars as you read through.

How it works:We know that deciding whether or not to transfer your retirement savings can be daunting, so we’ve broken it down into three steps:

Consider Transferring

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to transferring retirement

savings.

Make your decision

Once you’ve considered the risks and benefits, you’ll have a period of

time to decide.

Complete the form

If you want to transfer your retirement savings, complete the form in your pack and return

it to us.

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To help you decide whether transferring is the right option for you, we’ve included some information about your employer’s workplace pension scheme with us.

What is it?Your employer’s workplace pension scheme is a group pension scheme they’ve set up with us. A group pension scheme is a collection of individual pension plans, and one of these plans belongs to you.

Sometimes we refer to the collection of individual pension plans as a ‘group pension plan’. In this guide, we call it a ‘scheme’. This makes it easier for you to understand when we’re talking about the scheme, or your own individual plan.

How does it work?You’ll normally make a monthly contribution into your plan from your salary automatically and, in most cases, your employer and the government contribute too. Contributions from the government are also referred to as ‘tax relief ’ - they depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

This allows you to build up your retirement savings tax-efficiently. And when it comes to retirement, it’ll provide you with an income any time after age 55.

What do we do?We’ll manage the group pension scheme, and you’ll pay for our services through the product charges.

We can’t provide you with advice or a recommendation. So if you’re unsure whether transferring your retirement savings is right for you or not, you should speak to an adviser.

• The value of all pension plans can go down as well as up and you couldget back less than you pay in.

• Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and could changein future.

• There can be some risks when you transfer retirement savings from onepension plan to another. The rest of this guide will help you understandwhat these are.

A BIT ABOUTOUR SCHEME

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CONSIDERTRANSFERRING

There are three questions you’ll need to answer before you decide whether to transfer your retirement savings:

How do the two plans compare?

Will I lose any valuable benefits?

How do the investments compare?

This guide and the rest of your pack will help you answer these questions.

How do the two plans compare?Firstly you should compare the features of each plan, including the annual management charge. The following three documents will help you do this:

Your Key features tell you more about some of the risks and benefits of the Royal London scheme.

We sent you this document in your welcome pack, but if you can’t find it just let us know and we’ll send you a new copy.

Your previous provider can give you this information about their scheme too.

KEY FEATURES OF THE GROUP PERSONAL PENSION PLANThe Financial Conduct Authority is a financial services regulator. It requires us, Royal London, to give you this important information to help you to decide whether our Retirement Solutions Group Personal Pension Plan is right for you. You should read this document carefully, so that you understand what you are buying, and then keep it safe for future reference.

This is an important document and you should read it together with your illustration. Please read it and keep for future reference.

Ret

irem

ent S

olut

ions

This document contains the following information:• the aims of the Retirement Solutions Group

Personal Pension Plan• your commitments if you take out the plan• the risks associated with the plan• questions and answers that explain the plan’s

main features• how to contact us.

ITS AIMS• To build up a sum of money tax efficiently, which

will give you a tax-free cash sum and/or a retirement income from age 55.

YOUR COMMITMENT• You and/or your employer agree to make regular

contributions to your plan until your chosen retirement date. You can also make a single contribution or a transfer payment from another pension plan.

• You agree to make up any difference between the contributions made by your employer and the minimum total of contributions set out in the auto enrolment requirements.

• You agree to tell us if your circumstances change. For example, if you no longer have UK earnings or are no longer resident in the UK.

• You need to let the plan build up until you are allowed to access your retirement benefits.

RISKS• We cannot guarantee what you will get back at your

chosen retirement date. Various factors can alter your plan value. For example:

• Investment performance, interest rates and charges may be different to those illustrated.

• You could stop making regular contributions or take a contribution holiday.

• You might take your retirement income and/or tax-free cash sum earlier than your chosen retirement date.

• Tax rules depend on individual circumstances and may change.

• Investment returns are never guaranteed. This means the value of your investment can go down as well as up and you might not get back the value of the original investment.

• If you start your plan with a single contribution or transfer payment and then cancel it within 30 days, the amount returned will be less than you paid in if the value of your investment has fallen. The amount returned may also be reduced if you or your employer agree charges with a financial adviser for services they provide on your plan, and you or your employer tell us to take those charges from your plan.

Your Personalised illustration shows how much you could get back from your plan with us when you retire.

If there isn’t a copy in your pack, you can get a personalised illustration from our online service. If you’re unsure how to log on, you’ll find instructions in your welcome pack.

You should ask your previous provider for a similar illustration to help you compare.

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Your Transfer summary provides information about the annual management charge for both schemes to help you compare the charges.

You’ll find this document in your pack.

What’s an annual management charge?We apply a yearly charge for managing your plan, which is known as an annual management charge. It’s taken automatically from the retirement savings you’ve built up.

We won’t charge you anything on top of the annual management charge for transferring your retirement savings to us.

You might also find it useful to contact your previous provider and ask if:

• They’ve made any changes to their previous scheme since you joined.• Your plan has a special deal, which means your own plan charge is less than the

scheme charge shown on your Transfer summary.• You’ve already made a single contribution or transferred savings from another plan into

your previous plan and this has different charges.• You’re invested in a specific fund that has a different charge.• You’ll be charged for transferring away from them.

You’ll find the information you need about your previous plan’s charges in your existing documents, or by speaking to your previous provider.

• Although we’ve compared the yearly charge for both schemes, we won’t compare the charges for your individual plan.

• Some providers may have additional yearly charges. You’ll see these in your Transfer summary document if this applies.

• If your plan is invested in an option that’s different to the scheme’s default investment option, you may have an additional charge.

• Transferring your retirement savings into your plan with us could mean that you’ll pay lower or higher charges.

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Will I lose any valuable benefits?

Next you should check if transferring your plan could mean you’ll lose valuable benefits that can’t be replaced.

We’ll check the previous scheme to make sure it doesn’t have either of these benefits:

• Guaranteed minimum level of retirement income – known as a guaranteed annuity rate.

• Loyalty bonus for staying with the provider.

Since we only check these details at scheme level you should check your previous plan information to make sure these haven’t been added to your own individual plan.

Here are some examples of the other benefits you might want to check if your previous plan has:

Employer benefitsYour employer might be providing income protection, death benefits and illness cover as part of your plan. If they are, this benefit will probably stop when they stop contributing.

Protected tax free cashThe tax rules for pension schemes changed on 6 April 2006. Under the old rules you may have been entitled to tax free cash of more than 25% of the fund. This higher amount can continue to be provided under the current rules, but in order to calculate the updated value when you take your benefits, we need to know how much you had protected, and the total value of your retirement savings on 5 April 2006.

Protected pension ageYou might have a retirement age that’s lower than the normal minimum retirement age (currently age 55). This is also known as a ‘protected retirement age’.

Sharing or earmarking orderYour previous plan might have a pension sharing order or earmarking order.

Crystallised fundsIf you’ve already started taking your retirement savings from your previous plan, you won’t be able to transfer. This is sometimes referred to as ‘crystallised funds’ or ‘crystallised benefits’.

The plan documents you’ve already received from your previous pension provider should tell you if any of these features apply to you. If you’re unsure, you should contact them to find out.

We won’t check all the features of the previous scheme. Your previous plan might have other valuable features or benefits that won’t be replaced if you transfer.

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How do the investments compare?

When you’re thinking about transferring, you’ll want peace of mind that your retirement savings will be looked after.

Unless you decide otherwise, we’ll invest your retirement savings in the default investment choice. This will be different to the default investment in the previous scheme and there’s no guarantee it’ll perform better.

You can stick with the default investment option and not change anything. It’s reviewed by experts, and this ongoing governance comes at no extra cost to you.

Or you can choose your own investments from our carefully selected range of funds.

You should remember that the value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you could get back less than you put in. Additional charges may also apply if you choose your own investments.

You can find out more about the full range of investment options available to you at yourplan.royallondon.com.

If you’re invested in With Profits, there are a few things that might impact your decision to transfer:

• The value of your plan may be reduced by a Market Value Reduction (MVR).

• You may lose a guaranteed future bonus.

• You may have a guarantee in place that removes the MVR when you reach retirement.

The plan documents you’ve already received from the previous pension provider should tell you if you’re invested in With Profits. If you’re unsure, you should contact your previous provider to find out.

If your previous plan is invested in With Profits, it’s important you understand what’s involved as this could affect your decision to transfer.

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MAKE YOURDECISION

Once you’ve considered the risks and benefits of transferring, you’ll need to decide what to do with your retirement savings.

You’ll have a period of time to make your decision – this is known as the ‘offer period’. Your Covering letter confirms when the offer period ends, so you’ll need to let us know your decision before this date.

Your options are:

Leave your retirement savings

where they are

If you don’t want to transfer your retirement savings you don’t need to

do anything with this pack.

Transfer your retirement savings

to Royal London

You can transfer your retirement savings into

your plan with us in three easy steps.

Transfer to another provider

If you want to transfer to a different provider you’ll

need to speak to an adviser.

If you decide you want to transfer your retirement savings into your plan with us, the next couple of pages will tell you what you need to do.

Need an adviser?If you’re still unsure if transferring your retirement savings is right for you or not, you should speak to an adviser. You can find one in your area by visiting unbiased.co.uk.

Advisers may charge for their services – though they should agree any fees with you upfront.

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REQUESTPAPERWORK

If you do want to transfer, in some cases you may need to request discharge paperwork from your previous provider. If this applies to you, we’ll tell you in your covering letter and here’s the steps you need to follow:

Request discharge paperwork from

your previous provider.

When you receive the discharge paperwork, you’ll need to sign it.

Send the signed discharge paperwork, and your

completed application form from this pack, to us.

Things to rememberThis discharge paperwork should only relate to the retirement savings you’ve built up in your previous plan with your current employer.

Transfers from one pension plan to another aren’t always in your best interest. You should speak to an adviser before making a decision.

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COMPLETETHE FORM

We’ve completed your transfer form with key information, so if you decide to transfer your retirement savings into your plan with us, just follow these three steps:

Check the information we’ve completed for

you is correct.

Request discharge paperwork, if required, then complete,

sign and date the form.

Return the form to us by post

or online.

Can I change my mind?If you decide to transfer then change your mind, you have 30 days from when you receive your plan documents to tell us. If you decide to cancel the transfer, you’ll need to let us know in writing.

What about other pension plans?This guide and the rest of the items in your pack only apply to the retirement savings you’ve built up in your previous plan with your current employer.

If you’ve built up retirement savings in other pension plans you may be able to transfer them into your plan with us too. Transfers from one pension plan to another aren’t always in your best interests. You should speak to an adviser before you make a decision.

If you change your mind about transferring, there are risks to consider:

• The previous pension provider may not accept the money back.• If they will accept it back, but value of your plan has fallen by the time the

transfer’s cancelled, we’ll return the value of your new plan to the previous pension provider. This will be less than you paid in.

• If the value of your plan has increased by the time the transfer’s cancelled, the amount we’ll return to the previous pension provider will be your original transfer value.

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CONTACTUS

We’re here to helpIf you have a question about the contents of your pack, our dedicated transfer team can help.

They won’t be able to give you any financial advice. So if you’re still unsure about what to do you should speak to an adviser.

0345 603 7560 Lines are open Monday to Thursday 8am-6pm and 8am-5pm on a Friday.

DOTV@royallondon.com

Transfer Team PO Box 413 Wilmslow SK9 0EN

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GLOSSARY

We know that when it comes to pensions, there’s lots of jargon. So you’ll find some handy definitions below.

Crystallised fundsIf you’ve used some of your retirement savings to provide benefits, the money is now ‘crystallised’.

Earmarking orderAn earmarking order could apply when divorce proceedings started on or after 1 July 1996. It states how much of your pension should be paid to your ex-spouse/ civil partner as either a monetary amount or as a percentage of your total retirement savings when you come to take them.

Pension sharing orderA pension sharing order could apply when divorce proceedings started on or after 1 December 2000. It simply means that a ‘share’ of your pension is given to your ex-spouse/civil partner at the time of the divorce.

Market Value Reduction (MVR)A charge that may be applied to reduce the value of the With Profits fund if you take money out before your chosen retirement date. The MVR is applied to ensure that the amount you’re paid isn’t unfairly higher than your share of the With Profits fund.

Protected tax-free cashThe tax rules for pension schemes changed on 6 April 2006. Under the old rules you may have been entitled to tax free cash of more than 25% of the fund. This higher amount can continue to be provided under the current rules, but in order to calculate the updated value when you take your benefits, we need to know how much you had protected, and the total value of your retirement savings on 5 April 2006.

With ProfitsA type of fund that invests in UK and overseas companies, government stocks, property and other types of assets. Instead of receiving direct investment returns, like dividends or rents, With Profits customers receive bonuses.

YOUR TRANSFER CHECKLIST

If you’ve decided to transfer your pension plan to Royal London, there are a few tasks for you to complete.

This checklist guides you through everything you need to do.

Have you told us the plan number for your previous workplace pension scheme? We can’t accept transfers from any other pension plans via this process.

CH

EC

K

Have you requested discharge paperwork from your current pension provider (if applicable)?

RE

QU

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Have you:

CO

MP

LET

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completed the highlighted sections of the application form?

signed and dated the application form?

sent us back your completed application form along with any discharge paperwork we’ve asked you for?

Please ensure you’ve read your pack thoroughly and you understand your options. If you’re not sure if transferring your savings is the best thing for you to do,

you should speak to a financial adviser.

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