New graduate looking for guidance - Transfer to private / outside UK??

Willrun4cake

Hi all, 

I am looking for guidance on some options that I have relating to a pension that I accrued whilst working for around 7 months at a higher education institute. My contributions on the payslip say show that I was on Salary sacrifice payments of 270 GBP and when I looked at my actual contribution for the period of 7 months it is amount to around 213 gbp. Am I right in thinking that if I withdraw the pension I would lose my previous employers previous contributions? If so can anyone advise me whether it is possible to move the pension to a German pension scheme or hold it for free in an independent and preferably ethical pension scheme? 
Thank you in advance for your help! 
J

MallyGirl

you can't withdraw it if you are under 55.
If you transfer it to another scheme there will be fees but if you choose one based on percentage of the amount then it doesn't sound like they will be very high. No idea on transferring to a German scheme

Marcon

MallyGirl said:

you can't withdraw it if you are under 55.
If you transfer it to another scheme there will be fees but if you choose one based on percentage of the amount then it doesn't sound like they will be very high. No idea on transferring to a German scheme

You can if it's a DB scheme and you have less than two years of membership, but you would only get back your own personal contributions, minus the tax relief you received when you made them. In this case no refund is possible because contributions were made by salary sacrifice, so are classed as employer contributions and cannot be refunded. More info: https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/when-things-change/leaving-your-pension-scheme/taking-a-refund

No pension scheme will hold your money free; there are substantial costs in relation to administration and compliance. In theory you can transfer to a German scheme, but with such a tiny amount, you may struggle to find a provider of the necessary product (known as a QROPS - Qualifying Overseas Registered Pension Scheme) who is interested.

swindiff

You can be refunded your contributions if less than 2 years service in a DB scheme as Macron says.  This will nearly always be a very bad idea though as you lose all your tax relief and employer contributions.  My wife was recently in this position and the refund was around £1500, whereas the transfer value was £7500