Help Pension advice

celt80

Hi there,
I need some advice about what the best thing to do with my old pension. I have a NEST pension of about £7600 which I no longer pay into as I'm now using USS pensions.

Should I transfer the NEST money into USS? I'm 37 so got a long time till I retire but have no idea if its best to leave the NEST pension where it is or move it.

Thanks in advance

xylophone

https://www.uss.co.uk/members/members-home/maximising-your-pension/transferring-benefits

Have you read through the above?

celt80

Yeah I've read that info, but I don't know if I'm better leaving NEST where it is or transferring it to USS. I not sure what gives me the best returns. Sorry I don't know too much about pensions.

Silvertabby

Ask USS for a quote - ie, how much USS pension your £7600 may buy you - and then decide.

Don't take too long about it - USS probably only allow transfers in in your first year of service.

PensionTech

I not sure what gives me the best returns

"Returns" isn't really the right concept for you to be thinking about. A defined benefit pension like USS doesn't give returns as such. It gives a guaranteed inflation-linked salary-related income throughout retirement. Your NEST pension is invested as a lump sum and grows or falls in line with market movements; at retirement you end up with a pot of money and have to decide what you're going to do with it, whether that means taking it all out at once and spending it, withdrawing small amounts throughout retirement to simulate a steady income, or any number of other options. Comparing the two is a bit like comparing apples to oranges, and certainly can't be done on returns. The best thing to do is as Silvertabby says: get a quote from USS showing how much pension it would buy you. Then decide whether you prefer apples or oranges - i.e. what kind of retirement product you think might suit your needs best, and what's the most cost-effective way of providing it.

Just to manage your expectations, I would expect this to buy you a pretty small pension from USS. Probably in the low to mid hundreds of pounds per annum. So it's unlikely to have a huge impact on your retirement. But then again, neither will your £7600. For a healthy retirement, pension savings need to be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds - hopefully you will find £7600 (plus investment growth) to be a drop in the ocean when you get there.

celt80

thank you, your response has helped me understand my options. I have other bigger pension pots but I was only a member of NEST for a short time due to promotion. As it was a small amount of money I wasn't sure what the best thing to do would be. thanks again.

xylophone

Looking at the link, I don't think that the Nest pension can be transferred into the (DB?) "Retirement Income Builder".

The only transfers that can take place into the USS Retirement Income Builder are those from schemes within the Public Sector Transfer Club. Only members who joined USS before 1 April 2016 are eligible for a transfer-in to the Retirement Income Builder and they must investigate the transfer within 2 years of joining or re-joining USS. As such, no transfers-in to the Retirement Income Builder will be permitted beyond 31 March 2018.

If so, the option open to the OP would be the DC "Investment Builder".

Transfers-in to the USS Investment Builder will not benefit from the employer subsidy of investment management costs unless the transfer-in is from the existing Money purchase additional voluntary contributions (Money purchase AVCs) arrangement that USS has established through Prudential.

At retirement the fund can then be used:

as a lump sum, which may be tax free whole or in part; or
provide a regular monthly income.

xylophone

I have other bigger pension pots

Is it possible to transfer in to one of these?

Is it worth considering consolidating your old pensions (if possible)?

You could consider taking paid for independent financial advice.

https://directory.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en

celt80

Thanks for your advice, I'm contacting USS for a quote then see where I go from there.