IFAs should be extremely cautious when promoting government plans to allow people to invest their pension pot into residential property as they could be putting themselves at risk, warns pensions expert Stewart Ritchie.
Inland Revenue's second pensions simplification paper published in December last year suggested people will benefit from an increased investment freedom, including the option to put all their pension savings into residential property, when the implementation of the new regime comes into force. While this might incentivise people to save more for their retirement, it also poses a great risk for both clients and advisers, says Ritchie, pensions development director for Edinburgh-based firm Scottish Equitable. One of the problems with investing in residential property is that the avera...
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