Nearly 40, time to sort my pensions out!

Silence_2

Hi guys,

Currently looking to arrange my pensions out properly as I have several old schemes etc I no longer pay into and am wondering what my options are.

So far I have:-

Personal Pension Plan with Aviva, no longer paid into, cant even remember when it was started, transfer value of £2500

Personal pension Plan with Aviva, this one is who I opted out of SERPS with when I was 16/17, Contributions still going in, transfer value £20000

Scottish Equitable Stakeholder, no longer active from my previous employer, transfer value £6000

Pearl Prosperity Pension plan, Still running but only £35 a month goes in, transfer value £9500

My current employer has just switched our Stakeholder to a Flexible pension Plan both were/are with Legal and General. That fund is not very old and sitting at £3000.

Should I move all my existing arrangements into the new company one?

Just the ones I no longer pay into?

Can the SERPS fund be moved across also ?

Do I really need to go see an independent advisor? how can I be sure they won't try to sell me something I don't really need?


Thanks in advance for any advice or pointers at all. I'm suddenly very aware that I do NOT want to be working into my dotage and hopefully by sorting out now I can make sure thats not needed!

PParka

I'm definately no pension expert, but would recommend seeing an independent advisor.

A few years ago I though about moving my old schemes into one place, but after seeking advice, found out this wouldn't be the best thing to do. A lot of it depends on what type of pensions they are. I nearly moved a final salary pension into a Stakeholder scheme which would have been a mistake.

Batchy

youve got 41k, its not a huge amount, and to be honest, most stakeholder funds charge 1% on the first 15k of any investment.

so your probably being charged around 1% on all the 41k at least... rather than it being lower after x amount.

Its nice not to have all your eggs into one basket.

Just a thought!

Batchy

PParka wrote: »

I'm definately no pension expert, but would recommend seeing an independent advisor.

A few years ago I though about moving my old schemes into one place, but after seeking advice, found out this wouldn't be the best thing to do. A lot of it depends on what type of pensions they are. I nearly moved a final salary pension into a Stakeholder scheme which would have been a mistake.

Wow, Moving a final salary one anywhere would be a bad idea, these are rubber stamped and gold plated! lol

dunstonh

Do I really need to go see an independent advisor? how can I be sure they won't try to sell me something I don't really need?

From the list of pensions you have, an IFA can save you a fortune. However, if you dont want that, then fair enough.

Cautious_Investor_3

Silence wrote: »

Hi guys,

Should I move all my existing arrangements into the new company one?

Just the ones I no longer pay into?

Can the SERPS fund be moved across also ?

Do I really need to go see an independent advisor? how can I be sure they won't try to sell me something I don't really need?


Thanks in advance for any advice or pointers at all. I'm suddenly very aware that I do NOT want to be working into my dotage and hopefully by sorting out now I can make sure thats not needed!

Hi

Some thoughts for you:

1. You may benefit from reviewing your pension arrangements, especially the paid up personal pension plans. Any review should take into account your goals for retirment, the charges on your existing plans and the performance of the plans (in the context of the risk that you are prepared to take)

2. Your personal pension plan that you have used to opt of SERPs into can indeed be moved, although I'd refer to my first point

3. If you can do the review yourself, have the means to research the whole market etc then no, you don't need an IFA. However, not many people have access to all the tools, experience and knowledge of a decent IFA (or the desire, most people have better things to do!). If you are nervous about "commission hungry IFAs" (sorry I came over all Daily Mail then!). Then there are some simple solutions (a.) chose an IFA on the basis of a recommendation, (b.) use a site such as www.unbiased.co.uk to find a suitably qualified IFA, (c.) pay the IFA a fee to review the pensions, you can then be sure that the IFA will not recommend a transfer that isn't in your best interests just to earn a commission.

Don't forget to review your state pension, you wouldn't want to live on it, but it's a great start to your retirement planning.

The Cautious Investor