Need a new pension asap!

I was having a sort out and came across an unopened letter from my old pension provider.
My pension was through my old employer and they made contributions on my behalf through salary sacrifice. The letter says that as I don't work for them anymore I must transfer my pension elsewhere (it says within 3 months of the date of the letter and well that is now!)

It says that if I don't transfer it then I won't be able to claim it in the future.

My new employer doesn't have a pension scheme (that I know of) and to be honest I don't want to be making any regular payments into one at the moment, I literally just need something that I can transfer this one into ASAP, it's not a lot of money, about £1000 but obviously I don't want to lose it.
I've had a real quick google but a lot talk about minimum payments and some have annual fees.

Advice gratefully appreciated :)

Comments

  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,051
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    and some have annual fees.

    They all have annual fees. No-one is going to do it for love.

    All have minimum premiums of various amounts but a stakeholder pension will do the trick for a small amount like that.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,719
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    Sounds like you'd better open one online pronto and get that transfer going.
  • spidereyes
    spidereyes Posts: 257 Forumite
    edited 10 December 2012 at 11:08AM
    dunstonh wrote: »
    They all have annual fees. No-one is going to do it for love.

    All have minimum premiums of various amounts but a stakeholder pension will do the trick for a small amount like that.

    To be honest I know nothing about pensions, Only ever opened my last one as I paid in £30 each month and my employer paid £70 which seemed like a good deal at the time. Unfortunately about 3 months after opening the pension (with an external company) they decided to change pension schemes and automatically transferred it into a company one. Of course originally I could have kept my pension with the external company but because they then changed it to a company one I know have to get rid....

    So basically with the fees Im going to be loosing the best part of £10 a year out of my pension then if I dont pay anything else into it? (most seem to be 1% fee).

    Annoyingly there are a few schemes Ive found but I cant apply for them directly (apparent a financial advisor has to apply for me) and others which I can apply for online say that I cant transfer other pensions into them....just as well I have the day off work today as I can see this taking a really long time
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,051
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    So basically with the fees Im going to be loosing the best part of £10 a year out of my pension then if I dont pay anything else into it? (most seem to be 1% fee).

    Yes. In the same way you lose £10 on every £100 spend at Tesco.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • This is really frustrating now...I dont think Im going to get anything sorted today.

    Tried to phone Aviva about their stakeholder pension as setting it up online I have to set up a direct debit which I dont want to do. Aviva told me that they couldn't advise me on if I could transfer my old pension to them and would have to speak to my current pension provider about it? Woman I spoke to says everyone else in the pension department isn't available and just to keep calling back throughout the day....really not helpful at all.

    Who knew it would be so difficult!
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130
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    You might find it easier to open an Aviva stakeholder via Cavendish online and this will also reduce the fees as Cavendish take a single fee up front rather than ongoing.
    I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.

    Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,051
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    You will not get advice from pension providers. That is not what they are for. They supply the product. They dont give advice on the product. They are not allowed to unless they hold the FSA authorisations (which costs money) and the required staff levels to deal with advice (which costs money). Most providers do not as they leave the advice to IFAs. However, you dont need advice. So, don't ask questions that could be taken as advice questions.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • I had this sort of a deadline with my former employer and was a bit late in sorting it out. Just phone them up and let them know you're dealing with it. They will just extend the deadlines without fuss.

    The deadline is just to make you get your skates on, it's not set in stone.
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130
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    Here is a link to Cavendish.

    http://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/stakeholder-pensions/aviva/

    Fees works out rather stiff given the small sum, but that's going to be hard to avoid. The ongoing fees being lower will help over time.
    I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.

    Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.
  • dtsazza
    dtsazza Posts: 6,295 Forumite
    spidereyes wrote: »
    So basically with the fees Im going to be loosing the best part of £10 a year out of my pension then if I dont pay anything else into it? (most seem to be 1% fee).
    The fees will be £10 a year, yes.

    But the thought of "losing" it out of your pension is perhaps misleading. It's not like your pension will be worth £990, then £980, then £970 etc.

    The whole reason why you're paying the fee, is to cover the costs of having it invested in stocks/bonds/whatever. The reason why it's invested is to enjoy growth based on those assets.

    If the investments only returned 4% in one year (which is a very modest amount), then your £1000 would turn into £1030, even with the fee deducted.

    Alternatively, if you expect the funds to see zero growth, then there is no point in paying someone this fee for the service of managing 0% growth. (Although that situation is extremely unlikely.)
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