Pension advice please

auldblerk

I have paid into a pension scheme with a previous local authority for 19 years then left 4 years ago and this became 'frozen'. I now work for a different local authority and was told by a workmate that from next April, It will be compulsory to have to start paying superannuation. Not only that but there is a possibility that my previous pension scheme will be transferred over whether I wish this or not which I don't.
Is there any truth in this or is it just 'hearsay on the shop floor' ?
Cheers.

auldblerk

Obviously I have worded this wrong as the silence is deafening, I'll sleep on it and try and figure out another way of putting this so people understand.

Just_Some_Guy

There is small nugget of truth in this, wrapped with several layers of tosh.

From 2012 it will become compulsory for employers to enrol employees in a pension scheme. It is being phased in over a few years with the largest employers going first. Employees can opt out whenever they please, but you can't avoid being enrolled thanks to the regulations.

Employers can use any pension scheme they want as long as it meets certain minimum standards. Also there is a thing called NEST which is a bare minimum scheme any employer can use. Google "auto enrolment" if you want the grisly details. Local authority schemes are much better than the minimum required so the NEST thing won't matter for the public sector.

What this actually means for you: your 19-years-service pension will remain where it is until you retire unless you actively do something to transfer it somewhere else. If you are in your new employer's pension scheme already then nothing will change when your employer's "staging date" comes round (the date when they have to enrol all employees in a pension scheme). If you aren't in the scheme already, then you soon will be. If you don't want to be enrolled, just fill in the opt-out form once you've been enrolled.

jem16

auldblerk wrote: »

I now work for a different local authority and was told by a workmate that from next April, It will be compulsory to have to start paying superannuation.

As already mentioned this workmate has probably picked up on the NEST scheme being introduced. As the local authority already offers you a much better scheme it will have no effect on your current arrangements. However your mention of compulsory gives me the impression that you are not currently a member of the LGPS with your new council and that you don't wish to be. Hopefully this impression is wrong.

Not only that but there is a possibility that my previous pension scheme will be transferred over whether I wish this or not which I don't.

Although all local authorities belong to the LGPS each authority runs its own section so you would have to initiate a transfer if you want to amalgamate them. If you don't then you don't have to. Is there a specific reason you don't want to transfer?

Is there any truth in this or is it just 'hearsay on the shop floor' ?
Cheers.

More a case of mixing up some facts with a large dollop of fiction.

auldblerk

Thank you both for the information you have given me, it has put my mind at ease so cheers for that. I wish to keep the previous pension superannuation seperate from this Local Authority.
I might start a new lgps with this outfit next year if it happens and at the rate things are going, I'll be using the lump(s) sums to buy a motorised mobility scooter when I reach 75.

jem16

auldblerk wrote: »

I wish to keep the previous pension superannuation seperate from this Local Authority.

Have you taken advice as to whether that's the best course of action?