Advice or whether to transfer or freeze pension

geek111

Any advice would be appreciated. I am leaving a job in the Civil Service to start a new one and was curious what would be the better option? I have accumulated nearly nine years worth of pension .

dunstonh

You can neither freeze it or transfer it. The only option is for it to become deferred.

xylophone

You can neither freeze it or transfer it.

Not wholly true?

http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/95350/alpha_schemeguides4_colour_v3.pdf

Is there any reason why I cannot transfer my pension?
If you left with less than two years’ service, you must have started the transfer process within the deadline set out in the letters you get, or you will receive a refund of contributions.

You usually cannot transfer your alpha pension to a defined contribution or money purchase scheme. There
are a small number of exceptions when a transfer may be possible, including after leaving with less than
two years’ service (a short-service transfer).
The pension scheme you are transferring to may have its own timescales and requirements that you must
meet.
Your new scheme must be UK tax registered, and be able to accept the transfer under the Occupational
Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) regulations.

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/content/spotlights-files/uploads/What_are_my_options_after_April_2015_SPOT025_V_1_2.pdf

However, if you are in an unfunded Public Sector scheme (e.g. Civil Service, Teachers’) you will no longer be able to transfer out your pension to a Defined Contribution pension arrangement.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/defined-benefit-schemes


If you’re in an unfunded defined benefit pension scheme (these are mainly public sector schemes), you won’t be able to transfer to a defined contribution pension scheme, but you’ll still be able to transfer to another defined benefit pension scheme.