pension advice

cheekymonkeb0y

Hi All,

My new workplace has just asked me if I have a pension that I want to contribute to.

My last role paid well but did not offer a pension, but I realised that I have been paying into various different schemes over the years in my prior jobs. I have no idea how much money I have 'accrued' or 'lost' by doing this but have used the pension service tracing forms to find out further details.

In people's opinions is it worth me contributing to one of these schemes, or should I save the cash and invest elsewhere?

Do these only really makes sense if employers contribute a significant amount as well?

Any recommendations of where to start to look for a good scheme?

My circumstances are - married early 30s' wife pestering me to buy a house and start a family. Minimal savings (compared to folks on here) we blew a chunk of savings on a gap year travelling to Asia (you only live once!).

What do people advise we do. Long term I can see myself leaving the UK to live somewhere else (with lower housing costs!), parents have already escaped UK!

Can I just 'cash in' from my old contributions (prob pay a penalty) or do I have to wait?

Cheers,

J

xylophone

You can't cash in your old pensions - you might be well advised (once you have gathered the information) to see an IFA to check what would be your best plan.

Old final salary, defined benefit schemes are usually best left alone - you would need an IFA to sign off any transfer anyway.

Other old pensions would need to be checked for guarantees.

With regard to your current role, it looks as though your employer would pay into a scheme of your choice. Again, an IFA would advise.

You have some emergency savings by the sound of it - if you are going to buy a house, you'll also need a deposit.

Your wife should check out her pension situation?

Have you worked out a statement of affairs to examine your budget if your wife gave up work/took maternity leave?

You might want to look at life assurance. http://www.unbiased.co.uk