Transferring to a drawdown pension

kidmugsy

I transferred a pot from the Pru to HL free. You get in touch with HL and they do all the work.

They are a good bet if you want to withdraw the loot as long as you leave enough behind for a year so that you don't trigger an early closure charge.

What's the hurry to get your hands on it now?

dunstonh

I would just rather not give them £1800.00 in fees if I could avoid it.

Although use of a modern product/investment could see your annual ongoing fees reduce by two thirds. So, that fee could be recovered quickly if a medium to larger pot. (although you still shouldnt use a Pru sales rep).


You probably want to be using a DIY provider instead as you wish to DIY.

xylophone

Assuming that there are no safeguarded benefits and this is a standard DC pension, there seems no reason why your should not transfer out to a product facilitating drawdown.

Check on the SB situation and then try HL?

Albermarle

There are plenty of pension providers that will accept a transfer of money in for a drawdown product with no fee. That includes Sipp providers but also more traditional insurers who mainly allow you to deal with them direct, unlike the Pru.
However the annual charging structure will differ from each provider ( and which funds you are in )
You do not say the value of the pot as some providers have lower charges for smaller pots ( say <£50K) and others are better for bigger ones .

luckyfool151

Were you opted out into DC or DB scheme?


Do you have any safeguarded benefits such as GAR and GMP?


What is the fund value?

Albermarle

Were you opted out into DC or DB scheme?

For a SERPS opt out pension , it is highly unlikely to be a DB scheme ...

Arkwright9772

Ok guys, thanks for all your replies. I'll try and give you a bit more information if it helps point me in the right direction.

It's a DC scheme. The fund total as of today is £55,000. There are no safeguarded benefits.

I discovered this pension by chance approximately 18 months ago and it has never been part of my retirement planning. I have another private pension and a final salary pension as a public sector employee.

So the plan is this.... My wife has just been made redundant and my employer has agreed to my taking a twelve month unpaid sabbatical. We therefore intend to cash in the SERPS pension, rent out our house and travel around Europe in a camper van reliving our youth of sex, drugs and rock n roll.

All I need now is to get this damn pension into a drawdown plan with as little hassle and cost as possible 😄👍

dunstonh

We therefore intend to cash in the SERPS pension

That isnt drawdown. The Pru plan may support full fund withdrawal. Most of theirs do (but not all)

Arkwright9772

I know it isn't currently drawdown, which is why I'm looking for advice on how to use it to buy a drawdown pension without incurring costs if at all possible.

zagfles

Arkwright9772 wrote: »

I know it isn't currently drawdown, which is why I'm looking for advice on how to use it to buy a drawdown pension without incurring costs if at all possible.

You could use someone like HL, they're generally efficient and reliable and they don't charge for transfers in, and they don't charge for holding cash. If you transfer in then put it into drawdown you could take 25% out tax free immediately and withdraw the rest (taxed) when you want (could be straight away too but understand the tax implications first). They have an account closure fee of something like £300 if you close within a year but if you keep a small amount (something like £1000) in for at least a year it's a lot less (something like £30 IIRC).

See https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/transfer-to-the-vantage-sippfor details