If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true
PENSION scams are back in the news with revelations that consumers have had millions of pounds stolen from their pension pots in recent weeks.
The scams take various forms. In some cases, money is simply stolen from your pension fund and transferred to somewhere else – never to be seen again.
Other cons involve your pension being used to buy high-risk assets that are unlikely to ever make you a return and are more likely to mean that you will never see your money again.
Neither result makes for a healthy retirement so the warning is that you need to be really careful if your phone rings and you are asked if you would like to have someone review your pension for you.
Citizens Advice reckon that more than 10million unsolicited calls will be made this year and even though the regulators banned these calls earlier this year, many experts believe the ban will be ignored.
The calls are likely to start with someone asking if you would like to review your pension and perhaps take advantage of the opportunity to make more money from your pension than you currently are.
At that point, you should just hang up. Regardless of how aggressive they are being or how good they make their options sound, the chances are that you will lose money and you really don’t want to get involved.
Pensions are really important for most of us when we get to retirement age and many of us will have spent years – as well as tens of thousands of pounds – building up the money that is already in our pensions.
You don’t want to be taking any unnecessary risks as you approach retirement.
I’ve said this before but if an offer sounds too good to be true then it probably is too good to be true.
If you want to review your pension, speak to your employer and ask them to put you in touch with their advisers or look for a properly qualified Independent Financial Adviser in your area and ask them to do it for you.