Hill top finance/pensions.

dunstonh

it was through the pension wise site I found them. they gave me there details and no one else's.

I just checked the pensionwise site and it gave me over a dozen firms listed in order of distance from postcode.   Maybe they are only advice firm within 50 miles of your location

(i have several) were all set up as annuities, 

Are you sure they are annuities and not pensions?   Annuities pay an income and typically have no capital value as you are no longer invested (caveats apply to certain types).  Did you already take your 25% tax free cash from them?

clive0510

they are pensions which would of been taken as a annuity in 6 yrs time, if I hadn.t done what I'm doing. hilltop are not in my locality at all. they are 300 miles from where I live. the reason I'm using them is because pension wise said they are best suited to my needs. I have not taken a lump sum, all though with draw down the option is there if I need it.

tacpot12

So these pensions are likely to be older Money Purchase Personal Pensions where the sales literature set the expectation that the holder would buy an annuity with them because that was all you could do prior to the introduction of the pension "freedoms". Moving these pension to a "drawdown" pension basically means moving them to a more modern style of personal pension where you can either drawdown money directly from the investments or you can buy an annuity. Both options are open to you, so it is a fairly straightforward decision; the only thing you really need to consider is charges. 

You will pay charges to the investment managers who operated the funds that your pension will hold, and you will pay Hill Top or some other IFA for the advice to decide what funds your pension will hold. You need to be sure you understand what both of these sets of charges are, and what impact they will have on your pension.

As you obtained the contact details from Pension Wise, I think it is safe to assume that we are talking about a regulated firm, but Hill Top Finance are not your only option, and it would be as well to check with one or two local firms what their charges would be. You will find it easier to deal with a local firm. I would ask around friends and family to see if anyone has any personal recommendations of a local IFA you can use. 

dunstonh

they are pensions which would of been taken as a annuity in 6 yrs time, if I hadn.t done what I'm doing.

Thank you.  This means they are not annuities.   An annuity is something you would have bought, if you wanted when you retire.   Your old pensions would not have been required to buy an annuity.  You could have transferred them then.    So, that alone is not a viable reason to transfer now.   There are scenarios where existing pensions are good in the growth stage but no good in the income stage.   So, in that case, you keep them where they are in the growth stage and around 3-6 months before retirement, you move them into the product that is best at that time ready for the income stage.

hilltop are not in my locality at all. they are 300 miles from where I live. the reason I'm using them is because pension wise said they are best suited to my needs.

You keep saying that but Pensionwise do not make any company recommendations.   As I said, they have a directory of the vast majority of advice firms and they show them in distance order.

Is this link the one you used to search for an adviser?   Try it again and see who comes up (dont search by name.  Select "in person" and enter your postcode).

https://directory.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en?_ga=2.162215292.1533822033.1598089675-25626309.1598089675

I do have a concern as to why you feel that pensionwise have recommended a specific company when that is not something they do.   Was it the real pensionwise you dealt with or perhaps a company that looks like pensionwise but is actually an introducer/referrer? (do the links to what you used come from money advice service or something different?)

Albermarle

I do have a concern as to why you feel that pensionwise have recommended a specific company when that is not something they do.   Was it the real pensionwise you dealt with or perhaps a company that looks like pensionwise but is actually an introducer/referrer? (do the links to what you used come from money advice service or something different?)

Yes it does not sound right.

I searched for Pension Wise on Google . The actual Pension Wise site was only fifth in the list .

The Top 4 all used 'Pension Wise' as a part of their website title but in fact were nothing to do with them but were offering commercial retirement solutions or similar. I suspect the OP has been talking to one of these rather than the real Pension Wise.

Hence the unusual recommendation.

OP - This is the correct site https://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en

clive0510

Albermarle said:

I do have a concern as to why you feel that pensionwise have recommended a specific company when that is not something they do.   Was it the real pensionwise you dealt with or perhaps a company that looks like pensionwise but is actually an introducer/referrer? (do the links to what you used come from money advice service or something different?)

Yes it does not sound right.

I searched for Pension Wise on Google . The actual Pension Wise site was only fifth in the list .

The Top 4 all used 'Pension Wise' as a part of their website title but in fact were nothing to do with them but were offering commercial retirement solutions or similar. I suspect the OP has been talking to one of these rather than the real Pension Wise.

Hence the unusual recommendation.

OP - This is the correct site https://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en

thank you for that. I believe that is the site I used. how can I check now to be sure?

clive0510

ok. I'm back. this is the site I used https://directory.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en so can someone plz tell me have I done the right thing here? sorry to go on but bit concerned.

Albermarle

clive0510 said:

ok. I'm back. this is the site I used https://directory.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en so can someone plz tell me have I done the right thing here? sorry to go on but bit concerned.

That looks OK but stills seems odd that they recommended someone 300 miles away.
As mentioned above there is no actual rush and it could be worthwhile searching out an IFA nearer to you.
Transferring old pensions into a new one ready for drawdown is bread and butter work for IFA's, so you should not have any trouble finding someone more local to do that for you. 

clive0510

thanks for all the help everyone. i'm getting it sorted. 

cfw1994

Albermarle said:

clive0510 said:

ok. I'm back. this is the site I used https://directory.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en so can someone plz tell me have I done the right thing here? sorry to go on but bit concerned.

That looks OK but stills seems odd that they recommended someone 300 miles away.
As mentioned above there is no actual rush and it could be worthwhile searching out an IFA nearer to you.
Transferring old pensions into a new one ready for drawdown is bread and butter work for IFA's, so you should not have any trouble finding someone more local to do that for you. 

Perhaps use the actual Pensionwise link Albermarle sent you!
You should be able to have a face to face or telephone conversation with them - they can certainly outline options for you, but as dunstonh says, they will NOT recommend any specific company.
Good luck!