Interim Pension until auto-enrollment

gribbon

Hi All,

Looking for a bit of information about paying into a pension shorter term.

I've already got three pensions from previous employers of various amounts; 1 stakeholder, 1 trust stakeholder and a final salary (and from a very quick look, it doesn't appear as though I can top up any of them - but may be wrong).

My current employer does not have a pension scheme, and is a late joiner to auto-enrolment (2017). So I'm thinking about paying into something for a couple of years until then (say £150/month for sake of argument).

I've looked at stakeholder (Aviva via Cavendish jumped out); personal (which looking at fees for 'smaller pots' seems like I'd be better off with the stakeholder); or SIPP (which seems like the later fees (drawdown etc) would wipe out a fair amount of the value of the pot given its small size).

Anyone any tips or thoughts on this? I do have a S&S ISA but not sure i'd trust myself to leave this pot of money in there for 30 years+

Thanks in advance.

xylophone

Is it possible to transfer the two existing stakeholders into a new stakeholder with Cavendish and then carry on contributing?

You leave your FS pension as a deferred pension until Scheme Pension Age when you can access the benefits.

When your employer offers a pension in 2017, you could pay in as much as is required to access the maximum employer contribution and continue to add to your stakeholder as appropriate?

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief

gribbon

Thanks for coming back to me.

Yes I did plan to leave the FS where it was. Unfortunately the first 'Stakeholder' isn't actually a stakeholder (my mistake) it's a pot linked to the FS - seems as though its all or nothing with a transfer - so wont be touching that.

Second is a company 'Group Pension Plan'. It appears transferable, but the AMC is only around 0.6% so not terrible (and its only around £2.5k). The original T&Cs say you can pay additional lump sum contributions but no info about this on the website about how or minimums... may have to ask.

Any additional thoughts would be very welcome.

Many thanks.

atush

We have an old company pension we add to with a LS each year.

You can call them and ask them how. I transfer the money to them online by faster payments, then tell them how to invest it.

gribbon

Thanks Atush.

Just spoke to the group plan administrator who said the reason I couldn't make payments is I wasn't marked as a leaver from the scheme! They are removing from the company group and converting to a personal pension which I can pay into which is great.

Also including info about transferring if I want to do that.

Cheers.

redbuzzard

Xylophone's suggestion is a probably good one - if your employer isn't currently "pension minded" then the chances are that when the auto enrolment starts he will only put in the minimum employer contribution of 1%, rising to 2% on 1/10/17 and 3% from 1/10/18.

Whilst you could increase your own contributions into the employer's scheme, it might not be the cheapest or most flexible option.