Transferring Work Pensions

Commandante

Hello,

I'm a 35yr old who has some pension pots from previous employment, but in the last year or two have been made redundant twice, meaning that those schemes (with L&G and BlackRock) are asking me what I want to do with the money accrued there. Because neither scheme was operational over a year or more, I don't have the option to retain/freeze, and my only options are to take the cash (a much smaller amount) or to transfer out to another account. The decision on this is time sensitive as they usually only give you a month or so to decide, before they just send you a cheque.

My natural assumption is that I'm best to transfer out. The problem is that I don't have anywhere to transfer to at the moment! (and I'm currently out of work/doing freelance work so don't have an existing employment based pension).

I have another pension (now with Scottish Friendly) from a job I had until about 5yrs ago, but having told me that it could be transferred into that, and waiting weeks for the forms, they've now told me it can't.

So essentially I have two time-sensitive pension pots that I want to transfer out to somewhere else asap and no existing scheme to move them into. Are there any recommendations as to which is the quickest and easiest way to set something up to move these across before I run out of time and they send me a smaller cheque? In an ideal world I'll then also move over the Scottish Friendly one so that everything is in the same place.

Fyi I'm not at all knowledgeable or savvy about this area, nor do I have much time to spend on fixing it, in between job hunting and scraping together the few pennies I have left, so I'm seeking a painless/quick/easy solution rather than having to shop around and go for meetings with advisers etc.

Many thanks

dunstonh

My natural assumption is that I'm best to transfer out.

It normally is as this will result in the higher value. Taking the cash "normally" sees the employer take back their contribution. Plus, you pay NI and tax on it. Whereas transfer tends to keep the employer contributions and has no tax or NI to pay.

I have another pension (now with Scottish Friendly) from a job I had until about 5yrs ago, but having told me that it could be transferred into that, and waiting weeks for the forms, they've now told me it can't.

Did they say why? A lot of providers will not accept transfers in from an occupational scheme without an adviser signing off on it first. a number of DIY providers will (those that focus on the direct to client market).

zagfles

Have a look at Cavendish http://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/

Or someone like HL or Fidelity for a SIPP. If it's a small amount avoid those who charge fixed (rather than %) fees.

Have a look at http://www.comparefundplatforms.com

and Snowman's spreadsheet:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64540489&postcount=15

Commandante

No, they didn't say why. They just said they didn't accept 'transer-in'.

To give you an idea, the amounts sat with the two accounts I need to transfer from are probably only about £5-6k. The Scottish Friendly has about £11k. If possible I'd rather have everything in one place to avoid the extra paperwork and confusion!

xylophone

See post 3 above re setting up a new pension for a transfer in of the two small pensions.

With regard to the Scottish Friendly Pension, assuming that it has no valuable guarantees/is not a S32 or similar, is it worth considering a transfer out to your new pension?

You can then continue to contribute?

Commandante

Thanks. Am just looking at the links, though I must say it makes little sense to me, I don't know anything about 'platforms' etc

Yes I agree, ideally I'd want to transfer out from Scottish Friendly too. Apart from anything else, I think they've given very bad customer service...every time I've spoken to them they've been quite rude and have given me incorrect information at least once. I've wasted about a month on this issue simply because they told me the wrong thing. I seem to recall that the money was somehow locked-in until a certain date, though I don't know if this applies to transfers. I guess the answer is to find some way to transfer the first two quickly, then deal with that one.

atush

The platform is essentially the company- like a stock broker/bank acct. The funds are the investments that are held in the acct on the platform.

Opening one online and transferring in will be the fastest and easiest way. You can keep the money in cash for a period while you look at what investments to use, or you could use a collective multi asset find like the vanguard series.

dunstonh

Thanks. Am just looking at the links, though I must say it makes little sense to me, I don't know anything about 'platforms' etc

Platforms are an advanced investment option. Typically offering whole of market investment options with no due diligence carried out on the investments available on that platform. In many cases, they are the more expensive investment option (compared to personal pensions, but in some cases they can also be cheap.

xylophone

In your circumstances, where you have modest amounts to transfer and don't know whether or how much you can continue to contribute, would a simple stakeholder suit?

http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/about-stakeholder-pensions.aspx

http://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/stakeholder-and-personal-pensions/aviva/

With regard to the Scottish Friendly Pension, do you have the policy document?

What does it say about your pension benefits and when they may be taken?