Aviva with profit fund pension query - can I cash it in?

Adviceneeded15

Years and years ago I paid into a pension pot that my previous employer set up. There's about £1000 in it. I have paid into an nhs pension for the last 11 years and I wondered if I could move it to my nhs pension or even better be able to cash it in?

jem16

Adviceneeded15 wrote: »

Years and years ago I paid into a pension pot that my previous employer set up. There's about £1000 in it. I have paid into an nhs pension for the last 11 years and I wondered if I could move it to my nhs pension or even better be able to cash it in?

Transfers into the NHS scheme must be done within the first 12 months so no you can't.

Cashing it in would be possible if you are over 55.

Adviceneeded15

I've another 15 years to go til then. Ah well.

atush

When do you plan to retire from the NHS?

If you want to go early, and not waste your NHS pension by having it reduced, I would transfer this pension to a PP or Sipp, then add to it. Then take that pension when you want to retire early?

agarnett

Have you an up to date position on the Aviva With Profit pension?

Is £1,000 what is in it now, or what was in it years ago?

What was the original branded product? Was it NU or CU or GA or some other? Do you remember being offered any windfall type cheques back in 2009 ? You may have been asked to vote Yes to get a small cheque which would have been a bad move which the majority took nevertheless. On the other hand you may have dismissed it as bumpf which would have been a good move (or stay put) for you, because it might have yielded a recent substantial increase in final bonus that you wouldn't qualify for if you took the bribe in 2009. But overall it depends whether your policy was part of that major heist.

Also, if you are relying on a "fund value" seen in a routine annual statement each year then that probably won't be the transfer value which could be bolstered by a substantial added "final bonus".

Also, as we have seen in at least one other thread recently, the fund value and transfer value could bear no relation to the intrinsic value of the retirement benefits guaranteed by the plan, so don't even consider transferring it until you know exactly what you are foregoing by doing so.

If you can identify the original policy type, and maybe any indication of the full fund name and sub-fund if you have any documentation, and some numbers and dates to go with the numbers more exactly, then some of the experts (and even amateurs like me who also hold Aviva products!) may be able to enlighten you further.