Although pension plans are the star savings products and are chosen by thousands of Spaniards to save some money for their retirement, the truth is that few savers are aware that pension plans are susceptible to being transferred, as is the case with investment funds.
This feature can be very useful, since life takes many turns and what once seemed to us to be an excellent savings product may tomorrow turn out to be insufficient or not completely suitable for our needs. It is therefore of great importance to know how and when a pension plan can be transferred.
As is evident, it is best to use the services of experts in the field, which is the case of Euroteide Insurance, an advisory for Insurance and financial advice on savings and investment products from the south of Tenerife with more than 24 years of experience in the world of insurance.
With a quality service, Euroteide Insurance will put all his experience at your disposal to advise you about your Pension plan. In addition to offering you advice on savings and investment products, Euroteide Insurance can advise you and offer you the best products to meet your needs: Home insurance, Insurance Policies for the Self-Employed or Car insurance, they will find the one that best suits you.
What is the transfer of a pension plan?
The transfer of a pension plan is a very simple operation that consists of moving the capital of the pension plan, both the money saved and the benefits generated, to another savings or investment product, regardless of whether the financial product that receives the capital belongs to the same or to a different financial or banking entity. Also, the law allows you to transfer the capital in full or only part of the money.
It can be very useful, since this type of savings product does not allow the money saved to be redeemed until one of the initially agreed contingencies occurs, such as retirement or some extraordinary situation. Through the transfer of the pension plan, we would not have to wait for any of these situations to occur to have the money, since we could move the capital of the plan to another product.
Despite all of the above, the transfer is not always valid for occupational pension plans, so that it can only be carried out when the plan regulations allow it or when the employment relationship between the company and the worker is terminated. In addition, it must be taken into account that this operation can only be done between different pension plans or insurance plans or PPAs, long-term savings products with a regime very similar to that of pension plans.
When is the best time to transfer it
The best time to carry out this operation, which is free by law, will depend on the profitability, the conditions established in the long-term contract or if there is any clause in the contract that the bank or financial entity or Insurance company, with which we would have subscribed the pension plan that it is intended to transfer, gives us.
Thus, before transferring the pension plan we must take into account the following points:
- The advantages or disadvantages that the new Insurance company, bank or financial entity offers us, to which we are going to transfer the capital, that is, if it offers us more or less profitability, solvency, a promotional gift, etc.
- The conditions of the new contract, that is, if in the long run the new contract will be more beneficial.
- New ties, that is, to make sure if when contracting a new savings or investment product with a different entity, we will be imposed ties that force us to be linked to said Insurance, banking or financial entity.
Steps to transfer a pension plan
The process for transferring a pension plan is very simple and does not require any effort from the interested party. In fact, the vast majority of insurance, banking or financial entities offer infinite facilities to carry out this operation among the financial products they offer.
However, if we decide to transfer to other savings or investment products of other insurance, banking or financial entities, the new entity will be in charge of carrying out the entire operation, being necessary to present the data of the old plan of pensions and sign the authorization of the transfer.
With a few steps, we can carry out the transfer of the capital saved from the pension plan. They are as follows:
- Provide information related to the pension plan whose capital we want to transfer, that is, the name of the plan and the insurance, banking or financial entity with which we had contracted it.
- Sign the transfer order. This process can be carried out online through the website of the entity in question, although it can also be done in person at the bank branch.
Advantages and disadvantages of transferring a pension plan
There are not many disadvantages of this operation. In fact, there may be only one: time. This operation is not automatic, but takes a few days to complete, more specifically within XNUMX business days. Although, in practice the process usually takes a little less time, except for the banks that try at all costs and sometimes by any means and pressuring with not so ethical trickery to avoid the transfer.
However, the transfer of a pension plan has multiple advantages, among which we highlight the following:
- The financial benefits of the pension plans are not affected for the transfer of capital. Thus, the transfer will not have to pay any tax or suffer any type of withholding.
- There is no expense or penalty associated with this operation. However, the truth is that there are certain insurance, financial and banking entities that offer a bonus if the transfer of capital is made to a savings or investment product that they market themselves.
Without a doubt, the possibility of transferring our pension plan can be very useful, especially if the conditions of our old pension plan are not convincing and we have found better alternatives with a better information service about the plan.
As always, it is best to have the expert advice in the world of savings and investment products, Euroteide Insurance, with more than 24 years of experience in this sector has always advised and suggested the best alternatives in this type of financial instruments that one day will give us the quality of life and happiness we deserve as we move on to a stage in our lives that will undoubtedly come.