Cashing in a pension? yes or no?

haleygrey

Im a complete blonde with regards to money and as for pensions, OMG!:o
I have two workplace pensions from previous jobs. One is a civil service pension and the other is from John Lewis.
I would appreciate someone guiding me in the right direction for advice on whether or not its worth cashing them in?
Ive got the chance to move abroad for a few years and will be working.
The downside is im 51 and havent had much opportunity in the past to either top them up or pay into an extra one.
Any help/guidance would be greatfully received.

Thank you :rotfl:

macca1974

You can't touch them until you're 55 anyway, so you can't cash them in for at least four years. Even then, it will depend on the rules at the time.

My non-expert opinion would be that transferring final salary schemes is not usually a great idea, so you'd need to check with an IFA before moving the John Lewis one (and pay them). The Civil Service Scheme is I think an unfunded one, which the Government appear to be saying that you can't cash in anyway.

atush

You should not move your DB pensions and would not be allowed most likely as you'd need an IFA to sign off. Which is unlikely unless you are int he less than 1% of people it might be good for (such as those with illness which means they are unlikely to live long plus have no spouse/children).

As for when you are working abroad, i suggest you open some good UK savings acct now that accept new money, and open an ISA if you don't have one. Once you leave, you can't put more into ISAs or UK pensions and opening new UK accts is very hard. Dont close any UK current accts you have and makrre sure you set up internet banking. Set up an investment acct with someone like HL or Charles stanley etc.

There may be state and personal pensions where you set up shop, or you can just save into regular accts such as savings and investment accounts you have open in the UK. Fund them from your UK current accts- you can transfer funds into them from abroad.

Your_Hero

You cannot "cash them in". For private pensions it's age 55 onwards. For occupational pension schemes, the normal retirement age (NRA) is usually 65. Either way, you can't touch them yet.