Pension Timing

[AndrewR]

I am a contractor operating as a limited company. I need to get some good professional advise and am wondering about whether I need to get this before October 31th or if I can wait. My rationale for this is that if I invest in a company pension then the company is not limited by the amount it can invest in a directors pension? and as such if I invest after the 31st of October I gain the same tax benefits?
I am reluctant to invest at the moment given the state of the equity markets and would prefer to wait until they have settled down somewhat.

TIA,
Andrew

 

[papervalue]

I am a contractor operating as a limited company. I need to get some good professional advise and am wondering about whether I need to get this before October 31th or if I can wait. My rationale for this is that if I invest in a company pension then the company is not limited by the amount it can invest in a directors pension? and as such if I invest after the 31st of October I gain the same tax benefits?
I am reluctant to invest at the moment given the state of the equity markets and would prefer to wait until they have settled down somewhat.

TIA,
Andrew

My understanding is that you can make a payment during you company accounting period(if you accounting period is 01/01/08 to 31/12/08) must make payment before 31/12/08 as a company not allowed to accrue pension payment- I stand to be corrected.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

That is also my understanding.

However, if you want to make a personal contribution against last year's paye income, you need to make it before the 31st October. It's more straightforward to make it via the company.

It's not a good practice to try to time the market. What does "settling down" mean? A lot of people are too nervous at the moment which means that there are plenty of bargain shares at the moment. You will probably feel more confident after shares have risen by 50%.

As it is a long term pension, if you have the money now, buy now.

Brendan

 

[AndrewR]

Thanks to the repliers.
Regarding "settling down" I believe in the adage "time in the market" and while there are undoubtably bargains out there identifying them is way beyond my capabilities
Also given that I would be interested in a "tracker" style pension I would like to have more confidence that the stocks being tracked will exist in 4/5 months time (my accounting year is April to March).
If the market picks up significantly then I may lose out but given the massive falls YTD the market is now at a very low ebb so I cannot see any kind of bounceback to the previous highs in the short-term.
I don't want to rush into something just to get in before the 31st and regret it later.
Papervalue - regarding your point that companies cannot accrue pension contributions what is the maximum a company can make in a pension contribution in any one year? Is it based on turnover?

 

[papervalue]

Thanks to the repliers.
Regarding "settling down" I believe in the adage "time in the market" and while there are undoubtably bargains out there identifying them is way beyond my capabilities
Also given that I would be interested in a "tracker" style pension I would like to have more confidence that the stocks being tracked will exist in 4/5 months time (my accounting year is April to March).
If the market picks up significantly then I may lose out but given the massive falls YTD the market is now at a very low ebb so I cannot see any kind of bounceback to the previous highs in the short-term.
I don't want to rush into something just to get in before the 31st and regret it later.
Papervalue - regarding your point that companies cannot accrue pension contributions what is the maximum a company can make in a pension contribution in any one year? Is it based on turnover?

I am not to sure- I would not think their is any major limit- The main them is if you want a deduction are profits you would have to do it before end of accounting year. If you paid it next may, cant carry back. A lot is to do with how much cash company has avaiable. ( they may be a limit of a few milliom over a period of time)