Old pension resurfaced

catherine12345_2

Hello

I have never really focused on pensions until now (i'm 47) and starting to look at what I have and what else I need to put in place.
As part of this I tracked down an old contracted-out scheme that I started in 1989. I had just started work and signed up for it....I have never made any contributions into the scheme. I believed that when I left my first job the contracting-out arrangements would end(?) and therefore that this pension would be miniscule.

I was really surprised to discover I have a "Unitised Personal Pension" with a total current unit value of approx £32000 which includes protected rights of the same amount. I have a retirement age of 60.

Every time I have called the pension company they have mentioned that I can transfer it out and have quoted me a transfer value of nearly £50,000 (including a discretionary bonus).

My question is, should I transfer this out and where to? I'm not sure if they are encouraging me to transfer as it isn't a good earner for them or whether this pension isn't as good as I can get? I don't even know much about the pension as they haven't sent me my terms and conditions yet. I do know that I can't make additional contributions into it.

gadgetmind

You have contributed to it as rather than building up second state pension you have had some of your NI contributions channeled into that pot.

Nothing else will now be going in as opting out has ended and protected rights pots are just like any other.

You could transfer it, but you first need to fully understand the value of the current pot and ensure that any new home for it will give you a better long-term outcome than leaving it where it is. Until you fully understand what you're doing, do nothing other than collect information.

jamesd

Does this pension have any guaranteed annuity rights? Those would be a right to buy an annuity for a fixed percentage of the pension pot value. If they exist they can get you twice or more the current free market annuity payouts for the same amount of money.