Transfer or Defer?

liz545 · 3 September 2008 at 10:17AM

I have recently started a new job, and I'm wondering what to do about my pension provision. My previous employer's scheme was part of the University of London (http://www.saul.org.uk/start.htm) and I have about 2.5 years of qualifying service with them, which, as I understand, means that I'd be able to transfer over both my contributions and those of my employer; my new employer's scheme is the Local Government Pension Scheme (http://www.lgps.org.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=1); which is (I think) also a final salary scheme, like my previous scheme.

I think that my options are either to transfer my accumulated contributions into the new scheme, or defer my benefits with the old scheme and start afresh with the new one. Are there any benefits to deferring, or would I be better off having all my contributions with one scheme? I haven't yet requested a statement from the old scheme so I'm not sure exactly what the total value of my pension pot is, or if they'd make any deductions from it to transfer it over; fwiw I'm in my mid-twenties so retirement's a long while off, but I recognise the importance of planning for it!

jonathon_hart · 3 September 2008 at 10:36AM

Does the Local Government Scheme treat transfers in as buying additional years or do they get treated as money purchase (i.e becomes a pot of pension money)?

Your transfer value for the University of London scheme will be an actuarially calculated amount that represents what you would need to invest now to receive the same benefits at retirement as the scheme was offering - this therefore requires them making several assumptions which may or may not be correct.

MikeJones_2 · 3 September 2008 at 11:11AM

Hi Liz,

Both schemes (your former and current employer) are listed as members of the Public Sector Transfer Club which offers enhanced terms on transferring between participating employers.

There's a current list printed on the Civil Service Pension Scheme page:
List of Public Sector Transfer Club members (1.24MB download)

There's also a whole section about transferring into the LGPS scheme on their website:
How to transfer another pension to the LGPS - Employees in England and Wales

Contact the Pensions Department and ask for more detailed information. There may be time contraints too, so don't drag your heels and think about seeing an IFA who specialises in pensions.

I hope this helps.

Mike Jones

I work in the field of Pension Education and Pension Guidance in the UK. I am a current member of the Specialist Pensions Forum as well as being a Voluntary Adviser for The Pensions Advisory Service. I work with scheme members, employers, trustees, scheme administrators and advisers on most things to do with employer sponsored pension schemes. The views expressed by me in this thread are my personal opinions. You should seek professional advice from an appropriately experienced and qualified adviser. I am not an IFA.

EdInvestor · 3 September 2008 at 11:58AM

liz545 wrote: »

I think that my options are either to transfer my accumulated contributions into the new scheme..

Because they are both in the "transfer club" you cannot lose so this is the way to go.As mentioned, make sure you don't miss the deadline.

scrivette · 3 September 2008 at 1:18PM

As they are both club schemes you will transfer the benefits as roughly day for day service.

Transfer or Defer?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free