Advisers should not rush to advise their clients to do anything drastic on 6 April – it might be best for them to stay in bed, Pensions Minister Steve Webb has said.
Speaking at the Financial Adviser/FT Adviser Retirement Freedoms Forum on 24 February, Mr Webb told delegates he was giving them the “thinking inside government on pension freedoms and what we think may happen on 6 April”.
He told delegates at the MayFair Hotel in London that although 6 April will be a bank holiday, it might be best to tell clients: “Stay in bed. There is no rush. Come back in the autumn and sort it out.
“It is a radical reform, but you do not have to do everything on day one. Now, we know on day one that all the reforms will be legal. But if you have no reason to do anything, then you do not have to do anything on 6 April.”
However, Mr Webb said indications were that all concerned – providers, advisers and others – would have to provide both for the regular demand as well as for the surge in demand that will arise from those who delayed doing anything after the last Budget and decided to wait until 6 April this year.
Adviser view
