Liberty Sipp warns investors could be hit by reduced lifetime allowance

Liberty Sipp has warned consumers of the need to be aware of the changes to the lifetime allowance. The Manchester-based firm said Sipp investors should note that the lifetime allowance will reduce in 2014.HMRC has announced the lifetime allowance will be reduced from £1.5m to £1.25m from 6 April 2014. It estimated the change could potentially affect 360,000 people and around 30,000 people are likely to have pension assets that are worth between £1.25m and £1.5m in 2014-15.For people who exceed this amount on their lump sum, there is a 55 per cent charge on the excess. Liberty Sipp said although the figures seemed large initially, it is likely many people would exceed the allowance in the future.{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}It gave the example of a person aged 40 with a pension pot of £500,000 yielding five per cent per annum. If the person retired at 65 then the fund would exceed the excess amount by £437,000, meaning a tax charge of £240,350.The annual allowance for the 2014-15 tax year will also reduce from £50,000 to £40,000 from 6 April 2014, potentially affecting up to 140,000 people. John Fox, managing director of Liberty Sipp, said: "For many high earners who save regularly to build up the retirement pot, it's case of damned if you do, damned if you don't."People investing in Sipps need to understand the consequences of exceeding the lifetime allowance and the impact it could have on their pension pot and broader retirement."

Liberty Sipp warns investors could be hit by reduced lifetime allowance

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