How to: Transfer three pensions into a fourth

simond83

Hi,

I'm 34 and currently have 5 pensions. 3 of them are very small, sub £2k. The 4th is very large, £70k +. I'd like to transfer the 3 small ones into the 4th one.

The 5th one is with my new job and has only started recently. I'd like to keep this one 'as-is', and run it alongside my existing 4th pension.

I had a meeting with an IFA a few months back, who agreed with my plan. He also offered to move 1/2/3 into a new pension scheme, but they'd take a % which was far too high. I want to keep my £70k+ 4th pension where it is with the Pru, and just move these 3 smaller ones (Standard Life/BlackRock/RoyalLondon) into that Pru one myself, as the cost is sub 1% on it.

How does one do this? I've taken advice from an IFA, made my decision and now just need to move the funds via what i can only guess to be is a ridiculous amount of paperwork. Where do i start?!

Thanks! Simon

dunstonh

I want to keep my £70k+ 4th pension where it is with the Pru

Is that one of the good Pru plans (most of which can no longer be incremented) or one of the not so good Pru plans (most of which can be incremented)?

Is the Royal London plan one of their good ones or one of their poor quality ones (the current RL pension is very good - some older are a bit meh).

Is that Standard Life plan one of their good ones or one on their expesnive ones?

Do the plans allow you to transfer into them without an intermediary?

simond83

Hi dunstonh,

The Pru plan is self select. My choice of Japanese funds in 2008 were a winner apparently. I'm unsure if this type of account would still allow increments though, good question. I'll look into that thanks.

The Standard Life pension is from 2005 and has about £600 in it.

I'd like to tidy up these 3 small funds into the Pru one, and focus on maximising my tax relief with my new employer. I just don't want to pay someone else to do it and/or sacrifice a larger percentage for the privilege of organising a few forms for me.

Thanks, Simon

dunstonh

You may well find that all of them can be improved upon with a modern plan. Especially if you are going DIY. So, you should introduce another option to investigate... transfer the lot to a new plan.

just don't want to pay someone else to do it and/or sacrifice a larger percentage for the privilege of organising a few forms for me.

You are entitled to feel that way. However, pre 2013 plans may well be factoring in the cost of advice and you end up paying more using those plans compared to a modern advised plan (with no factoring) or using a dedicated DIY provider.

xylophone

Have you asked the Pru about a transfer in?

Or might you prefer to open a SIPP ( or other kind of personal pension) and transfer your pensions into that?

http://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for-your-future/pensions/the-best-cheapest-sipps-low-cost-diy-pensions may be worth a look through.

https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/

Alexland

+1 for consolidating the 4 historic pensions into a modern DIY SIPP (such as Canvendish Online for low cost if you are happy to make your own fund choices) or IFA provided personal pension. Just check you would not loose any special plan features such as a guaranteed annuity rate but at your age that's unlikely.

Usually you ask the old provider to send you the transfer / discharge firms, you complete your bit and then send onto the new provider (having already opened an account) who will complete their bits and send back to the old provider.

OldMusicGuy

I transferred 5 pensions to my Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP, it's pretty easy. The fund that you are transferring to will have a form you fill out to request the transfer from the current schemes (one for each scheme) and that's all you have to do (assuming they are DC schemes). It was really easy for me because HL have very good customer service so I was able to talk the whole process through with them.

kidmugsy

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

I transferred 5 pensions to my Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP, it's pretty easy. The fund that you are transferring to will have a form you fill out to request the transfer from the current schemes (one for each scheme) and that's all you have to do (assuming they are DC schemes). It was really easy for me because HL have very good customer service so I was able to talk the whole process through with them.

My similar experience with HL was also good. My only reservation is that with more than £70k the OP might be able to find some other satisfactory provider that is a bit cheaper. The balance between service standards and costs is his to make.

OldMusicGuy

I wasn't recommending HL, just saying it was easy for me to make the transfers and being on HL helped. There was no mountain of paperwork. The Pru may be less helpful...

To answer the question more directly, here's what you need to do:

- Check the documentation of the existing schemes to see if there are any benefits that you may lose if you transfer to the Pru scheme. Confirm that you want to go ahead with the transfer if there are any such benefits.

- Contact the Pru and let them know you want to transfer these pensions to your scheme. They should provide the forms for you to fill out with the details of the schemes. You return these to the Pru and they do the rest.

This is all assuming that the Pru scheme allows all of this. I have no idea if it will.

dunstonh

The Pru may be less helpful...

The Pru used to be great at service. Since they moved to Lancing, their service levels have fallen significantly. You just get this feeling that its only a matter of time before the Pru pull the plug on the UK (especially as their directors keep suggesting it). Their product range is dated and the one thing they had going for them that others did not is now marginalised in legacy products you cannot buy any more. If they were staying, where is the product range that suits 2017.

kidmugsy

dunstonh wrote: »

You just get this feeling that its only a matter of time before the Pru pull the plug on the UK.

That does crop up in the papers quite often. What happens to the legacy customers? Sold on to Phoenix or the like? What would happen to someone who has a Pru with-profits annuity? Would Phoenix (or whoever) manage a With Profits fund intended to mimic whatever the Pru fund would have done?