Simon Zutshi, Founder, Property Investor Network
Simon Zutshi is an enthusiastic supporter of SSAS pensions and shares his insights through his seminars, in national magazines such as YPN and through his networks.
“A Property SSAS should be a key part of all property investment planning. It’s a really important business tool that can make the difference for starting or growing a property portfolio.” – Simon Zutshi
The SSAS is an important part of investment planning that all company directors should be aware of, as Simon states: “As a reminder, a property SSAS is a unique facility that allows the directors of small to medium-sized businesses to pool all of their old pension schemes into a single pension. The new pension facility is known as a Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) and has special investment status allowing the director to use the money held in the new pension for investment in property. It’s worth noting that the company you are running does not have to be trading in property for you to set up a Property SSAS.”
‘ A Property SSAS should be a key part of your property investment planning ’
And here’s some positive reassurance from Simon: “If you think you are in the dark about SSAS pensions don’t worry because I hear the following comments all the time at property events and courses that I hold…‘How does it work? Why doesn’t my current pension provider do this? Why has my financial advisor never suggested this? and so on….’ SSAS pensions are still relatively unheard of but they are gaining major interest in the property investment markets because of the flexibility that they offer. It’s important to understand that they are only available to SME company directors and so your pension provider or financial advisor may have never suggested a SSAS if they were unaware that you were a director. It may also be that you were not a director at the time of setting up the old pension plan.”
“After pooling all of your old pensions the money held in the new Property SSAS can then be used to buy land for development, commercial premises to trade from or convert to residential, or you could even lend the money to your own company.
This is where a Property SSAS is really useful because you can then use the money in your company for any purpose. Of course, because it is a loan from your SSAS pension to your company, it needs repaying with interest but the capital and interest you repay is going back to your own pension – your retirement fund gets all the benefit and the interest your company pays is tax deductible.”
“For slightly larger companies with a small board of directors or companies run by a family, then there is also the possibility of pooling all personal pensions into a Property SSAS to give even greater buying power. Whilst the pooled funds remain in ownership of the individuals, the SSAS pension will then have even greater investment options.”
Simon concludes: “If you are setting out on your property journey or looking at ways to grow your portfolio then the old pensions that you paid into in the past could provide the injection of cash you need. Personally, I would recommend using the services of a SSAS broker such as TLP. I am good friends with director Gareth Bertram and we have worked with his team for almost 7 years. Get in touch with them online or by phone to see how they can help you.”
Article as published in YPN magazine.
