Avc's and comparing pensions

Sibusiso

I have 2 pensions.
I'm a vicar, my church of England pension will pay out roughly £12k a year from age 67 with £36k lump sum.
I was a caretaker for a local council for 23monhs and have a tiny pension which pays out £300 (£1k lump) a year from age 60.

I want to put more money into my pension, I'm 34.

How do I work out
1, which pension is better for avc's
2, if it's better to use avc's or start a private pension.

I consider myself fairly money savvy but I know very little about pensions. Ta.

hyubh

Sibusiso wrote: »

which pension is better for avc's

If you are no longer employed by the council then surely that question is academic? (Occupational pensions require being employed by the relevant employer.)

if it's better to use avc's or start a private pension.

Not enough information - the term 'AVC' can imply a variety of things, though key questions to ask are:

- In your CoE scheme, can you purchase extra service with the returns of an AVC?

- Alternatively (or possibly as well), can the returns of the an AVC be put together with the notional value of the main pension to get a better tax free lump sum rate? (Applicable when the commutation rate - i.e., rate at which pension can be converted to lump sum - is deliberately poor.)

- Normally I would expect an AVC to be effectively a separate-ish pension with a dedicated AVC provider (Prudential, Zurich, etc.), however is that so in the CoE case? Potentially relevant given the CoE's pension fund isn't in great shape.

atush

AS to if avcs (if available) are better than a PP you need to find out the charges, the funds available, and if they are salary sacrifice (so save Nics too)

xylophone

https://www.churchofengland.org/media/1328442/2013%20clergy%20avc%20booklet%20v1-0.pdf
might be worth a read?