Found old company pension details - can I withdraw

alstemp

Hi MSE people - over the weekend I came across details of an old company pension that was set up for me. dates back to nearly 10 years ago. There's only c£2,700 in there and I have never contributed. Also was with the company for less than a year. It is a "unitised with profit personal pension plan". Anyway my question is - can I close the pension and withdraw the money? There are better things I can use this for plus already have other plans ref pension etc. Grateful for any advice here, many thanks.

macca1974

you probably can if you are over 55, although you'd need to check on the scheme type. If you aren't over 55 then you can't take the money.

atush

Well first off no, if you are under 55. Second, what other pensions do you have? What will you live on in retirement? Third, you say ti si 'with profits'. This means there COULD be an MVA (market value adjustment) for taking ot before the stated retirment age- so call them and check. There could also be valuable guarantees attached.

So, if you are over 55 you should be able to take it all under the 'small pots' rules, but only the first 25% is tax free. The remaining 75% is taxed at your higest rate (and could even push you into a HRTax band). So taking it later when not working is preferable, or putting an equivalent amt into your current pension.

alstemp

thanks everyone - I am 46 so sounds like I won't be able to take the money out. What happens to it? does it just stay in the pension plan? so the only way I can "use" it is if I wanted to transfer it to another pension plan?

AnotherJoe

Yeh, probably best to start the wheels turning to move it into an existing plan.

lisyloo

You have 2 choices.
You can either leave it where it is until you reach an age where you can either drawdown or take an annuity i.e. take it as a pension.
OR you can transfer.
Whether you transfer depends on


1) the charges
2) whether the current fund choices are good
3) whether there are any transfer penalties
4) whether there are any valuable benefits at maturity that you'll lose if you transfer


These things are best done by a professional advisor.
Is there any advisor e.g. like the one at work, who would look at this for you for free (especially if you might transfer it to them).
I've always had mine assessed without paying any fees.
Your advisor at your employer might be inclined to help with the motivation of keeping the employer happy as to another advisor who couldn't justify it without making charges for their work.

alstemp

thanks everyone for the replies, most useful . . .

PeacefulWaters

This might be three months retirement income for you. Not a lot, but something you will be grateful for in later life.

Value it accordingly.

AnotherJoe

lisyloo wrote: »

You have 2 choices.
You can either leave it where it is until you reach an age where you can either drawdown or take an annuity i.e. take it as a pension.
OR you can transfer.
Whether you transfer depends on


1) the charges
2) whether the current fund choices are good
3) whether there are any transfer penalties
4) whether there are any valuable benefits at maturity that you'll lose if you transfer


These things are best done by a professional advisor.
Is there any advisor e.g. like the one at work, who would look at this for you for free (especially if you might transfer it to them).
I've always had mine assessed without paying any fees.
Your advisor at your employer might be inclined to help with the motivation of keeping the employer happy as to another advisor who couldn't justify it without making charges for their work.

I'd agree if the pension wasn't worth just £2,700. Its just not going to be cost-effective at that scale (unless work can do it for free).