New pension query

Unicorn_cottage

Hi all

I join a new workplace tomorrow and they offer a pension scheme with Legal and General (Multi Asset Fund). The employer will match my contribution up to a maximum of 10%. I am thinking of going in the whole hog as I only have a small pension pot made up of various pots all over the place. I take it is a no brainer to put in the 10%.

Sorry am not confident with pensions so just thought I would ask.

Thanks

xylophone

It seems to me a good idea to put in as much as will get you the maximum employer contribution.

Might it be worth considering (if possible and financially beneficial) transferring other pensions into your new one?

Or amalgamating them into a personal pension/SIPP?

Thrugelmir

The employers contribution of 10% is free money. You'd be daft to decline.

Unicorn_cottage

Thank you for the responses. What is the key info for understanding pensions? I hear people talking about deferred pensions etc but the 1 I would be joining is a group - does that make a difference? Also I hear a lot about the age when you can take a cash lump sum - is this also key? I ask because I have a pension from years ago and I just paid into it without thinking so I guess I need to know what type it is and what this means etc?

xylophone

What are your other pensions?

Are they "defined benefit" or defined contribution/money purchase?

https://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en/pension-types

How old are you?

Unicorn_cottage

I don't know to be honest this is the info I need to start gathering. 1 is with NEST.

I am 43.

Unicorn_cottage

Others are with USS (tiny pot), Aegon and L&G.

Marcon

Minimum age you can take anything from your pension savings is normally 55, but that's expected to increase.

LHW99

Unless the USS one is from the last few years, it's possibly a DB (final salary) scheme.
You would probably have got a letter when you left, summarising what you had earned up to that date.
You can put that in the calculators on the USS site to get an idea what is would be worth at your retirement age.
https://www.ussbenefitmodeller.co.uk/deferred/pension_increase

tacpot12

Yes, It's a no-brainer to contribute the maximum (providing you can afford to lose the money). But you will actually only be losing 8% of your salary because of the tax relief that makes your contribution upto 10%. It might even be less than 8% of your salary if your employer operates a salary sacrifice scheme for pension payments, so for 8% (or less) of your salary you get 20% put into your pension.

The L&G Multi Asset Funds are good funds in my experience.

And you get to take 25% of the resulting pot as tax-free income or a lump sum, so it really is a no-brainer.

xylophone

The NEST pension is DC and it is probable that the L&G and Aegon are standard money purchase pensions - it might be worth exploring a transfer in to your current pension scheme.

The USS is probably DB - you should check the benefits as above.