So many pensions...what to do?

johnzxr

After having changed jobs a few times in the last few years, I now have 5 different pension plans with £2k to £10k in each. Most of these are now "inactive" ie, I am not paying into them any more.

Im pretty sure this is a very ineficient way to manage my pension(s) and am thinking of consolidating all of them into one.

So I guess my question is, is this a good idea to merge them all together, or is there some alternative that may be more beneficial?

Thanks,

EdInvestor

It may well be sensible to merge them but watch out for a few things:

Final salary company pensions in most cases should be left where they are.

Older pensions in With profits funds may have valuable guarantees attached and also shouldn't be moved. With profit pensions may also at present be subject to exit penalties (MVA) and it may be sensible to wait until these are lifted as markets improve.

You really need to tell us more about the old pensions and also about any current one.

dunstonh

Older pensions sometimes have lower charges as well as other benefits but can also have much higher charges. There is no rule of thumb you can use and each one would need to be analysed with the pros and cons compared with modern contracts.