Moving pensions to one 'pot'

vasseur

Following redundancy I am trying to sort out my various pensions. Apologies in advance for any completely stupid questions I am bound to ask. Whilst generally financially savvy I have always found pensions to be a complete minefield and just don't understand them.

I have 3 pension pots that I have taken out over the years. One with RBS (v small - the latest statement I can find says the cash equivalent transfer value is £18399).

A second with Scottish Widows that I paid into from about 1998 - 2014 - transfer val as of Oct 2017 is £121,000

A final pension that I had with last employer from 2014 till now. No idea on the value of this as I haven't got a statement.

I have a pensions advisor popping round in about an hour and he has just sent me his list of fees. All I really want to do at this stage is get all 3 amounts into one 'pot' and maybe contribute £100 a month myself. I am not working at the moment and am retraining and I will be self-employed once I am qualified so will need to sort something out anyway but after looking at the advisor's fees is this something I can sort out myself without involving him?

Apologies again for the daft questions...

BLB53

...is this something I can sort out myself without involving him?

Certainly possible to open your own SIPP with the likes of AJ Bell Youinvest and get them to consolidate your 3 pensions into one pension which you then control yourself. I have done this and provided you are reasonably organised and ok with forms, it will save you a lot of money by not paying an adviser.

Whilst you have a little time you may want to read up on pensions generally and suggest 'DIY Pensions' by Edwards and maybe 'Smarter Investing' by Hale.

When you are earning again you can start saving more into your new SIPP.

xylophone

One with RBS (v small - the latest statement I can find says the cash equivalent transfer value is £18399).

Is this a deferred DB pension?

vasseur

xylophone wrote: »

Is this a deferred DB pension?

Hi - yes it is.

vasseur

BLB53 wrote: »

Certainly possible to open your own SIPP with the likes of AJ Bell Youinvest and get them to consolidate your 3 pensions into one pension which you then control yourself. I have done this and provided you are reasonably organised and ok with forms, it will save you a lot of money by not paying an adviser.

Whilst you have a little time you may want to read up on pensions generally and suggest 'DIY Pensions' by Edwards and maybe 'Smarter Investing' by Hale.

When you are earning again you can start saving more into your new SIPP.

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes it is something I need to take a look at in much more detail.

I will look into the AJBell thing (used to deal with them on a daily basis when i was working).

xylophone

Hi - yes it is.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/73481588#Comment_73481588

Linton

You should probably leave the RBS pension where it is as it isounds like Defined Benefit (eg final salary). The hassle of trying to move it may not be worthwhile as it is very small. It is likely that an IFA would need to be involved but you may have difficulty finding one who would do the work for such a small amount.

Assuming your most recent pension is not DB then the work on the other 2 pensions does not require an IFA. However for >£121K given your lack of understanding you may feel more comfortable using one to at least get things set up. Even if you choose to use an IFA you should still read up about pensions beforehand.

Is the pensions advisor an IFA? The “I” for Independent is important. If you want to use an IFA I suggest you have an initial free chat with say 3 local ones and choose the one you feel most comfortable with.

kidmugsy

vasseur wrote: »

Following redundancy I am trying to sort out my various pensions. ...

All I really want to do at this stage is get all 3 amounts into one 'pot' and maybe contribute £100 a month myself. I am not working at the moment and am retraining and I will be self-employed once I am qualified so will need to sort something out anyway...

Is there any particular reason why you want to contribute to a pension while you are not employed? It might work out better if you hold your fire until you are earning again.

Are you planning to be truly self-employed or are you going to set yourself up as a company? If the latter, pension contributions made by the company can be a tax-effective way for you to gain from your work.

xylophone

It is likely that an IFA would need to be involved but you may have difficulty finding one who would do the work for such a small amount.

See link post 6 if Transfer Value is under £30,000.

vasseur

Thanks so much for all the replies. I still feel quite ashamed that I'm so ignorant about pensions. I have ordered the DIY Pensions book and had a look at the link provided so it's a start but at least I have the time at the mo to do my own research.

Thanks again.