Transferring Pension

sannabay

I would really appreciate some advice on the following: I paid into a company defined benefit scheme for 20 years which was closed 18 months ago. I now pay into the Group Personal Pension Plan via Salary sacrifice ( my contribution is 7.5%, Co contribution is 7.5%). I also have a Scottish Widows Retirement account which I started in 2010 ( I also transferred an HSBC private pension into it at the same time). The fund valuation of the SW account is £50,000.
I don't want to touch my defined benefit scheme but I would like to transfer the SW account into the GPPP and wondered if this was possible? The % charges/fees on the GPPP are much smaller than the SW as my Company has negotiated a reduced rate for employees, hence the reason for the question. Assuming no exit fees ( I will contact SW for confirmation) is this reasonable/feasible? Should I be considering anything else? Any advice would be appreciated.

kidmugsy

If you did the transfer, how easy would it be to get at that capital without ending your membership of the GPP?

What other moves might you make to reduce the cost of the personal pension? Simply swap to a different provider, e.g. on a platform, and run it yourself?

sannabay

I'm sorry I don't know how easy it would be . I hadn't planned to access the capital before retirement so would it be an issue? I don't want to run the pension myself as I am not confident enough, which is why having the two pensions combined and the lower charges appealed to me.

Linton

Whether you can transfer your SW pension into the GPP is something only your employer's pension admin staff could answer. They are likely to help if they can as employers want to keep their staff happy. If you were no longer an employee the answer would probably be no as it involves a bit of extra effort.

Just like transferring an ISA it's the receiving scheme that does all the work. So just ask. It is probably a good thing to do but you would need to check the Ts&Cs of each scheme.

mgdavid

Do you plan to retire before State Pension age?
If so, you will need to bridge the income gap between stopping work and drawing SP, having the SW pot available to use for drawdown while the GPP continues to grow might be one way to do it.
But if you are in good health and intend to work up to SP age then your proposal sounds sensible, if it's allowed.

sannabay

Thanks for all the replies. I don't intend to retire before state pension age and I don't plan to drawdown any amounts from my pension pots. I have spoken to both SW and the GPPP help lines. Both say I can transfer from one to the other and SW have confirmed there will be no exit fees/charges. Once again, thank you all for your input.