Make Loans To Your Company
Lend Funds Back
SSAS pensions have a unique ability to “lend” funds back to their sponsoring company.
This feature can be a great tool to help businesses and at the same time build the retirement fund for directors.
Let’s look at it in a little more detail.
- A SSAS can lend up to 50% of its net assets to the sponsoring company
- The loan must be secured. It is possible to secure on the shares of the sponsoring employer if the conditions are right
- The loan can be taken out for a maximum of five years. It must be repaid with equal instalments of capital and interest
- The minimum interest rate is 1% over base
The potential benefits of this feature are:
A Company can take advantage of the tax relief of making a contribution to its pension, but cushion the cash flow disadvantage with a loan back.
A company can replace expensive overdrafts and other borrowing where the interest is being paid to a third party. This can be replaced with a repayment to its pension where the interest is building the members retirement fund.
A company with funds in a SSAS can be guaranteed available funding when the usual sources have tightened their lending criteria.
This facility is often overlooked, but when used wisely, it can be an effective part of the trustees investment plan – and who is better placed to assess how secure this loan is than them?
Clearly there is a potential risk should the company use this feature and subsequently get into financial difficulty. It shouldn’t be considered in that instance or as a loan of last resort, but for businesses with a healthy financial outlook, this can be of great benefit.
