Inheritance

Albermarle

Regarding the pensions, past and present : 
Firstly there is no possibility of getting professional advice with such low sums . The advice would probably cost more than they worth. The good news is that nothing will happen to the old pensions if you do not do anything > Suggest you sort the inheritance out first and then later make a note to go back to these old pensions. You can even come back to this forum with specific questions about them .
Only caveat to that is that increasing contributions to your current pension is almost certainly a good idea, sooner rather than later.

cloud_dog

helsmynes, it can hard dealing with the emotional side of things, and sometimes throwing yourself in to getting everything sorted is a little therapeutic, as it distracts your mind from wandering for a little, but take your time.  If your mum's passing was unexpected then take the time to grieve.

My FIL passed away almost a year ago (MIL passed a while ago) and my OH found the dealing with everything (with her siblings) both useful (therapeutic) and draining. So take your time.  It took almost 8 months for the house sale to complete (and that was without a chain).

After a long while she wanted to discussed what to do with the inheritance, the usual came up some for a holiday - she had always joked with her dad that when he popped his clogs we would use it for a 'nice' holiday, so that was something she wanted to do (similar to yourself).   She also wanted to put some aside for our DD, as in her mind our DD gran and gramps would no longer be there for and to gift her things; so that was No. 2.  She also loves writing and has always wanted a cabin at the bottom of the garden, somewhere she can go and write in peace; so No. 3 but, we discussed there would be other things she might like to be able to do without having think about where the money will come from so, we agreed an amount that she wanted to cover (hopefully) No 3 plus.

We are older than yourself so, with the remaining funds we agreed that it would all be put in to her pension (over the following years), and that this money would help us with our plans regarding early retirement.  I appreciate pensions might be considered quite boring but in the context of this money being hard worked for by her parents, and in the vein of using the money to make a difference to her and our lives, it really is the right choice (for us) and will (hopefully) allow us to enjoy our early retirement more fully.

xylophone

Heineken  transfer value is £26k? 

 Is it this? https://www.snpensions.co.uk/

Would your current scheme accept the tiny "flexible benefits" pension as a transfer in?

helsmynes

xylophone said:

Heineken  transfer value is £26k? 

 Is it this? 

Would your current scheme accept the tiny "flexible benefits" pension as a transfer in?

Yes I think they wud as they current scheme and tiny amount are the same provider. The sn pension (now run by Heineken) is the one with the £26k transfer value it’s only a very small annual pension of £850 pa once I retire but £26k seems worth transferring? 

xylophone

The £26k seems to be a deferred DB pension which is a "safeguarded benefit".

It offers a  very modest pension which would offer a supplement to your retirement income at scheme pension age - it revalues in deferment and presumably offers some kind of indexing in payment.  There is also a widow (er) pension/ death benefit etc?

If the value of the benefit had been greater than £30,000, you would have had to take regulated advice before transferring it to a DC arrangement.

As things stand you would not be required by law to take such advice but some schemes are chary of accepting a DB pension, regardless of the value.

If you would prefer flexibility in preference to the benefits offered under the DB scheme, you could consider a transfer out, whether to your current workplace scheme or to another arrangement.