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Describe the features of your personal pension.

Our personal pension, the Collective Retirement Account (CRA), is a Defaqto ‘5 Star’ service rated pension scheme provided by Quilter Life & Pensions Limited.

The CRA offers some of the most comprehensive withdrawal solutions in the market. This includes automated monthly income options that let a client take money out of their pension using only tax-free cash, or a combination of tax-free cash and taxable income. These options are designed so that you can tailor each CRA to meet your clients’ needs, help continue to grow their pensions, be more tax-efficient and maximise their legacy if required.

The following features are available:

  • The CRA is a multiple sub account model where uncrystallised and crystallised pension monies are held in separate sub accounts. This structure allows separate asset allocations for uncrystallised and crystallised savings, along with flexi-access drawdown and capped drawdown within the same client account.
  • Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) and Investment Trusts
  • Cash functionality
  • Re-registration functionality
  • Direct Debit collections and regular withdrawals can be paid on any date from 1st – 28th of the month
  • Voluntary ‘scheme pays’ allowing customers to settle annual allowance tax charges for any pension scheme. Once established by the client, the CRA will pay HMRC as soon as possible after a request is received, minimising the risk of any late payment penalties associated with other options in the market
  • The maximum age for all transfers (including uncrystallised) will be 85.

Nine flexible ways of withdrawing money from the CRA, all at no additional charge:

  1. Flexi-access drawdown options (FAD)
  2. Capped drawdown
  3. Lump sums from uncrystallised funds through FAD
  4. Small pots – Up to £30,000 can be taken as small lump sums from Collective Retirement Accounts which are uncrystallised. 25% of each payment will be tax-free with the balance taxed at the basic rate of income tax if we don’t already hold a tax code. A small pots payment can also be made from a fully crystallised account with a value of £10,000 or less, in which case the whole amount is subject to income tax. If we don’t already hold a tax code we will use an emergency month 1 tax code. Any higher or additional rate tax will be collected via the member’s annual tax return. Three tax-efficient* regular income options:
  5. Monthly payment is all tax-free – We pay 25% of the amount crystallised as a tax-free lump sum. The residual crystallised amount is moved to the crystallised drawdown pot for future taxable income withdrawals;
  6. Monthly payment is a mix of tax-free and specified taxable amounts – We pay 25% of the amount crystallised as a tax-free lump sum and a specified part of the residual crystallised amount as taxable income. The balance will be moved to the crystallised drawdown pot for future taxable income withdrawals;
  7. Monthly payment is 25/75% mix of tax-free and residual taxable amounts – We pay 25% of the amount crystallised as a tax-free lump sum and the residual crystallised amount as taxable income The above regular income options can be set up alongside existing flexi-access income withdrawals
    * The tax treatment and efficiency of these options will depend on the individual circumstances of each client. Tax rules and their application may change in the future.
  8. Open market option
  9. Legacy planning death benefit options

Is the Collective Retirement Account available for children?

  • The Collective Retirement Account (CRA) is also available for children and has no minimum age requirement to open an account. HMRC rules only allow for a parent or legal guardian to open an account on behalf of a child, as under the regulations only a parent/legal guardian is allowed to make the relevant tax declarations on behalf of the child. The account is held in the child's name, while the parent or legal guardian remains the registered contact until the child reaches age 18. At that point, responsibility for the account automatically transfers to the child
  • The CRA provides the same investment options, pension benefits and tax-efficient growth opportunities as those available to adult account holders. Contributions can be made by parents, grandparents or other third parties, subject to pension contribution limits. For children with no relevant earnings, up to £2,880 can be contributed each tax year, with basic-rate tax relief added by HMRC, creating a maximum annual gross contribution of £3,600. Cannot normally be accessed until the minimum pension age applicable at the time benefits are taken.