Question:
Can one move a paid-up retirement annuity to another company and also change to a unit trust linked product without huge penalties? This is for a person under the age of 55.
Answer:
Danie,
If your retirement annuity is paid up, you would already have incurred the surrender penalties, so there should be no further penalties on a transfer. Fund rules permitting, you are free to transfer your paid-up retirement annuity to another retirement annuity provider, but you cannot switch out of the retirement annuity wrapper, and buy unit trusts instead. That would be tantamount to cashing in your retirement annuity and you may only do that from the age of 55, at which point you must use two-thirds to purchase an annuity (living or guaranteed). You can then obviously own unit trust products within your living annuity.