Left due to ill health - RM SIP

[sanafz100]

Hi, i had to leave RM unfortunately due to ill health and have received a letter regarding my RM SIP. It just says the number of shares no value or anything. I'm 65, please any advice on what's best to do, to sell or transfer. Thank you

[midegarelu]

Everybody's circumstances are different, so its difficult to give advice about finances.
If you need the money then sell, however with the share prices so low you won't see much return.
There is the option for the shares to held by Equity for you but you will be responsible for any charges they incur when you sell at some point in the future.
Best bet is to read the paperwork that came and work out what might be best for you.
With any luck RobertT will come along with something more definitive.

[RobertT]

You can find out the current share price quite easily online by Googling it. Then obviously just multiply by the number of shares you hold to get the value.
If you have the full allocation of 913 free shares, at the time of writing they'll be worth around £1,800.

At their highest, they were worth around £5,750 and the lowest was about £1,100!

I'm not sure anyone can tell you what the best course of action is, as ultimately it's a personal choice.

If you want the money, sell them.
If you want to continue to get dividends(assuming RM are paying them) and hope the share price increases in the future, then transfer them.

[sanafz100]

Thank you both for the information, really appreciate it. Do you know what happens to the shares in event of death?

[RobertT]

I'm no expert on tax on death, wills, etc. But my understanding is:

If your shares are still in the SIP when you die, I think they would need to be sold and the money then goes to your estate. No tax or NIC's will be payable.

If you've already removed them from the SIP and transferred them somewhere else, Capital Gains Tax may have to be paid if they are sold. Although there's limit to how much a person can gain before CGT is payable. The free RM shares alone aren't likely to be an issue!

If they're transferred to someone else on your death, then no tax will be immediately payable.

https://www.gov.uk/probate-estate/manag ... ing-assets