Planned withdrawals, whether recurring or one-off, are always treated by the software as regular income. And unless set otherwise, the software normally assumes surplus income is spent if your client dies not plan to save it. This assumption applies to planned withdrawals, which are managed now on the Planned Withdrawals screen.
Exceptions are made for certain lump sum inflows such as windfalls, property liquidations, protection policy benefit payouts, estate distributions and in our UK release, withdrawals of tax-free cash from money purchase crystallisations (which are managed separately from planned withdrawals). Read more >>
There are two settings on the software’s Plan Preferences that can change this assumption.
Beneath the Plan Preferences, on the right side of the Preferences screen, under Calculation Settings, is the “Transfer [all] Excess Income Credits to Savings”.
When this setting is ticked, the software will transfer all unspent, otherwise unsaved surplus, regardless of source, into the owner’s default cash account (e.g. John's Cash). This assumption would be applied in for the total duration of the plan.
The new “Save Income After Retirement” setting will do the same, but only for surplus income received on or after Retirement.
We generally recommend that you avoid selecting these options and instead take a more proactive approach to planning. Otherwise, your client may seem to accumulate a sizable and probably unrealistic reserve of surplus cash over the course of the plan without making any real plans to save this money.
If your client does intend to save some or all surplus income, consider entering this as a planned contribution to savings, investments, or pensions in your client’s plan.
UK - Should withdrawals from money purchases be scheduled as crystallisations or planned withdrawals?
This consideration is especially important if you plan to take a large lump sum withdrawal of cash from the crystallisation of a money purchase (in our UK release).
Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS) withdrawals from money purchases are still best scheduled on the Pensions > Money Purchase or Defined Contribution screens. Whereas regularly scheduled incomes from pensions or even large one-off withdrawals made for special purchases or debt payoffs are best scheduled on the new Planned Withdrawals screen.
When scheduled as a general crystallisation strategy on the Money Purchase screen , the software will know to sweep any surplus lump sum from the crystallisation into the owner’s default cash account, if it isn’t scheduled to be transferred elsewhere.
Money Purchase Crystallisation Instructions (UK)
Ireland - Crystallising Defined Contribution schemes and taking drawdown income from ARFs/AMRFs
In our release for Ireland, defined contribution schemes must be fully crystallised together with any lump sum distribution, and the funds moved into an ARF/AMRF before they can be withdrawn as an income.
Withdrawals from ARFs/AMRFs are now scheduled on the new Planned Withdrawals screen, where they can be found in the list of Available Accounts. The ARF/AMRF will remain available for additional withdrawals to be taken when needed. Options are available on the ARF/AMRF screen to limit or disallow withdrawals.
Related Topics
New in Our December 2018 Release - The Planned Withdrawals Screen
About the Planned Withdrawals screen (how to schedule planned withdrawals)
Scheduling planned withdrawals from pensions
Withdrawal Limits – Placing restrictions on the software’s ability to liquidate assets as needed