Pearl Pension should I transfer it

cheggers

Mrs Cheggers has a Pearl Pension worth about £3500. She no longer contributes to it as she has a final salary pension with her work.

The pearl pension is worth £3500, on the last 4 statements its value has not gone up as its in a with profits fund and they are not paying any bonuses on it till further notice.

The transfer value is £2300, should Mrs Cheggers transfer out of the Pearl and move the money into a stakeholder pension (may be with Norwich Union or Standard Life)

I am worried that the Pearl pension will never increase in value as the bonus has been frozen, and I am more worried that by the time Mrs Cheggers retires the Pearl may have gone bust.

EdInvestor

Has this pension got a valuable annuity guarantee (GAR) attached to it? If so you may well want to hang onto it, indeed you may later want to contribute more into it if you can.

dunstonh

Pearl are not insolvent (although they were for a few weeks during 2002). They now invest the money with a focus on not going insolvent. This means low returns or non existent returns depending on which version of the Pearl pension you have.

Since 1979 there have been around 8 Pearl pension plan versions. 3 of those are usually worth keeping due to guaranteed annuity rates and/or guaranteed minimum fund values. The worst plan is the Pearl version 1 prosperity plan which is now in its 5th year of zero bonus but with annually increasing charges.

Whilst we cannot advise on individual cases on the board, if it is a V1 plan then almost certainly its worth getting out as you are unlikely to see any bonuses again. Although why you are considering a NU stakeholder I do not know. The NU stakeholder is more expensive than the NU personal pension.

cheggers

I have just looked at last years statement it is a prosperity plan, it does not mention which version.

How do I go about transfering this out? Would be looking at moving to Norwich Union personal pension, do we need to set the NU personal pension up 1st, then do a transfer into it?

Do I need to use an IFA to do this, or could I open a NU personal pesnion through a discount broker, any good deals (reduced fees and charges) going?

dunstonh

How do I go about transfering this out?

Request a transfer pack from Pearl.

Would be looking at moving to Norwich Union personal pension, do we need to set the NU personal pension up 1st, then do a transfer into it?

No, you complete a transfer application instead of a regular contribution application. Why NU? The pension product isnt bad but with their pricing, you may as well look at hybrid/full SIPPs.

Do I need to use an IFA to do this, or could I open a NU personal pesnion through a discount broker, any good deals (reduced fees and charges) going?

You dont need to use an advice IFA and can use a discount IFA. However, with execution only, no advice will be given and there is no comeback if you do happen to have a Pearl plan that is worth keeping and shouldnt have transferred. You also have to pick the investment portfolio within the pension itself

cheggers

dunstonh wrote:

Request a transfer pack from Pearl.


No, you complete a transfer application instead of a regular contribution application. Why NU? The pension product isnt bad but with their pricing, you may as well look at hybrid/full SIPPs.


You dont need to use an advice IFA and can use a discount IFA. However, with execution only, no advice will be given and there is no comeback if you do happen to have a Pearl plan that is worth keeping and shouldnt have transferred. You also have to pick the investment portfolio within the pension itself

What decent hybrids/Full SIPPs are about? really want to move out of the Pearl as the money in there is just gathering dust and I doubt it will ever make us any return.

EdInvestor

I would only suggest a cheap Sipp for such a small amount.

https://www.sippdeal.co.uk if you want to invest in shares.
https://www.hargreaveslansdown.co.uk for funds
https://www.alliancetrust.co.uk for investment trusts/trackers

have the cheapest offerings.

dunstonh

forgot the amount involved. In which case a PPP is probably best

littlereddevil

My oh has pearl pension plan(prosperity series 2)
Any good? Worth keeping?
Started october 1997 and paying £100 per month

dunstonh

The version 2 wasn't known as prosperity (good job really has it hasn't been prosperous). There are no guarantees on a V2 and with a bonus rate of 1.1% before charges of 1.35% its not exactly a good deal.

littlereddevil

It does say on it Prosperity personal pension plan.
Any suggestions what to do with it? OH is 54