Friday Five Focus on Pensions – 11 August – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes

Friday Five Focus on Pensions – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday

What’s this all about?

Each week, we ask questions relating to one of these topics: Investments, Taxation, Pensions, Protection, or Regulation. This week, our Friday Five is relevant to Pensions; this is useful as you prepare for the CII’s R04, AF7, or J05 exams. The challenge is for you to answer them in 5 minutes. Answers at the bottom of the page.

Questions

IMPORTANT! These questions relate to examinable tax year 2022/23, examinable by the CII until 31 August 2023. They do not relate to tax year 2023/24 which is only examinable by the CII from 1 September 2023.

1. Before a complaint can be sent to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the provider must first investigate and respond to the complainant within how many weeks?
   1. 8
   2. 6
   3. 4
   4. 2

2. Tom is paying secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) as well as Class 2 and Class 4 NICs. This would indicate that Tom is
   1. currently employed but has been self-employed in the last tax year.
   2. making good any NIC shortfall.
   3. over State pension age.
   4. self-employed and has employed staff.

3. Zaynab wishes to use trivial commutation. She should be aware that (Tick all that apply.)
   1. she will not be able to unless she is aged at least 60.
   2. there is a 12-month commutation period.
   3. the commutation limit is £30,000 across all schemes.
   4. all of the resulting proceeds will be tax-free.

4. Pension input periods run from
   1. 5 April – 6 April.
   2. 1 March – 29 February.
   3. 30 April – 29 March.
   4. 6 April – 5 April.

5. A small, self-administered scheme (SSAS) is considering making a loan to its sponsoring employer. The scheme administrator should be aware that His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) require that the loan (Tick all that apply.)
   1. is no more than 50% of the net value of the scheme assets, excluding any monies transferred in to the SSAS from previous pension arrangements.
   2. is secured as a first charge.
   3. is repaid in equal instalments over a five-year period.
   4. can be rolled over for a further period (not exceeding five years) if the sponsoring employer has financial difficulties.

Answers

1. A – See R04 Study Text, Chp 4
   Grab our taster mock exam paper for CII R04. Click here to download.

2. D – See R04 Study Text, Chp 9
   Grab our taster mock exam paper for CII R04. Click here to download.

3. BC – See R04 Study Text, Chp 7
   Grab our taster mock exam paper for CII R04. Click here to download.

4. D – See R04 Study Text, Chp 2
   Grab our taster mock exam paper for CII R04 Click here to download.

5. BCD – See R04 Study Text, Chp 10
   Grab our taster mock exam paper for CII R04. Click here to download.

How did you find this week’s questions? Did you complete them in 5 minutes? Did you get them all correct? Do you disagree with any?

If you found this quiz useful for your CII exam revision, please do share it with your colleagues.