What would make you consider DB to DC transfer

zagfles

sandsy said:

carrspaints said:

Nowhere in the document is that stated.

Some on the forum have suggested my DB pension is increasing each year with inflation. If that is so, why is my CETV showing a an annual pension that is the same, to the penny, as it was in 2017? And if it has increased with inflation, what is the point of a CETV if the new value is not stated? You won't know if the offer they have made to transfer out is actually good or not.

Everything I am reading just tells me that pursing a DB transfer is a waste of energy and time. I can't find any comments that suggest it's a good idea - and I still can't figure out why, other than DB is guaranteed income for life and DC is a gamble. Perhaps I should stop my salary sacrifice into my DC and just get salary taxed and stick in my bank.

Your deferred pension is definitely increasing. But some trustees simply refuse to give updated figures. I left my DB scheme in 1997 and they never updated the figure until I was old enough to request an early retirement quote, earlier this year. So it made it appear as if it hadn't changed for over 20 years. If you took advice, an adviser would calculate the current and forecast figures and compare it with the level of income you might generate from the transfer value.

Or can just look here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1332/made

Note if you have GMP (which only applies to pre Apr 1997 service) that's indexed differently, the other URL I posted gives details on this.

Prism

carrspaints said:

Nowhere in the document is that stated.

Some on the forum have suggested my DB pension is increasing each year with inflation. If that is so, why is my CETV showing a an annual pension that is the same, to the penny, as it was in 2017? And if it has increased with inflation, what is the point of a CETV if the new value is not stated? You won't know if the offer they have made to transfer out is actually good or not.

Everything I am reading just tells me that pursuing a DB transfer is a waste of energy and time. I can't find any comments that suggest it's a good idea - and I still can't figure out why, other than DB is guaranteed income for life and DC is a gamble. Perhaps I should stop my salary sacrifice into my DC and just get salary taxed and stick in my bank.

Why not just work it out yourself - thats what we do. Inflation (CPIH or RPI) figures are available here.

Inflation and price indices - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

carrspaints

@zagfles.You are correct. Under Pension Benefits, it states "Pension at date of leaving". Thank you for clarifying that for me, it has been one of the main drivers in looking at transferring out. I really thought my pension was just stuck, with no increase.

I knew pensions were complicated, but I had no idea just how complex they actually are. For now, I think the best thing I can do is speak to an advisor about my pension and my desire to retire at 62, rather than focus on ditching the DB pension. I will ask the advisor to cover the DB transfer merits either way, but what I really need is to understand if retiring at 62 is achievable, practical, sustainable. Do I need to increase salary sacrifice, reduce it, scrap it etc.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Albermarle

Some on the forum have suggested my DB pension is increasing each year with inflation. If that is so, why is my CETV showing a an annual pension that is the same, to the penny, as it was in 2017? And if it has increased with inflation, what is the point of a CETV if the new value is not stated? You won't know if the offer they have made to transfer out is actually good or not.

 
The CETV is affected by conditions in financial markets , which affects the calculation of the transfer value. So it can go up and down somewhat unpredictably.

Your rights to a guaranteed pension and the terms and conditions that come with it ( inflation linking etc ) are governed by the scheme rules and can not be changed.

So the two things are not directly related . For example next year your pension will increase with inflation , but it is quite possible that the CETV will go down.

RoadToRiches

Albermarle said:

So the two things are not directly related . For example next year your pension will increase with inflation , but it is quite possible that the CETV will go down.

It is for this reason many consider taking the CETV now, rather than wait until later when most likely it will fall in value, I expect rates to go up, or it becomes next to impossible to transfer as rules get tightened further.

smc4761

I have spent the past few hours going through all the numerous threads about transferring my DBS pension, and my goodness it is complicated.

I recently found out that an old pension I had from a previous employer, whom I left in 1997,  was in fact a DBS pension which in some ways was good to know, however reading the pages on numerous threads this can also be a bad thing, as I am looking to now transfer this to a DCS pension

It is not a huge amount, about £120,000 CETV which from age 63 gives me a pension of around £2500. I have been advised that the lump sum I would receive at 63 would be around £5000. I am currently 60

Now I appreciate that the pension amount is guaranteed and will increase, but even then, I would have to live for a fair number of years to even get anywhere near my money.

The reason I was thinking of transferring was simply I dont keep great health, as a type 1 diabetic for over 40 years, with high blood pressure I do not expect to live well into my 80's. I feel that it would be more beneficial to transfer to a DCS, to give me the flexibility to take more of the money up front as it were, and make the most of my healthier years.. I would hope that given those circumstances I could be advised that this is the best way forward

I know I have to seek an IFA and many seem to be reluctant to advise against a transfer. I do not want to spend a small fortune on advice simply to be told, do not do this. I have pretty much made up my mind that I do wish to go ahead and transfer to a DCS.

I assume that it is still possible to go ahead, against the advice of the IFA, insistent client. Are there any companies out there that specialise in such cases

eskbanker

smc4761 said:

I know I have to seek an IFA and many seem to be reluctant to advise against a transfer.

On the contrary, most will advise against a transfer!

smc4761 said:

I do not want to spend a small fortune on advice simply to be told, do not do this.

You have to pay for the advice either way, even if it doesn't align with the answer you want, since contingent charging was banned....

smc4761 said:

I assume that it is still possible to go ahead, against the advice of the IFA, insistent client. Are there any companies out there that specialise in such cases

Not sure about 'specialising' as such but one company has recently been reported as accepting insistent clients:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6293051/pension-has-finally-landed-as-an-insistent-client-acting-against-advice/p1

Pablo7474

Are you sure the £2500 pa is at retirement age or is this when you left the scheme? Does it contain GMP? 

Do you have a spouse or financial dependents? 

Pablo7474

sorry, dependants! 

smc4761

eskbanker said:

smc4761 said:

I know I have to seek an IFA and many seem to be reluctant to advise against a transfer.

On the contrary, most will advise against a transfer!

smc4761 said:

I do not want to spend a small fortune on advice simply to be told, do not do this.

You have to pay for the advice either way, even if it doesn't align with the answer you want, since contingent charging was banned....

smc4761 said:

I assume that it is still possible to go ahead, against the advice of the IFA, insistent client. Are there any companies out there that specialise in such cases

Not sure about 'specialising' as such but one company has recently been reported as accepting insistent clients:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6293051/pension-has-finally-landed-as-an-insistent-client-acting-against-advice/p1

My bad, yes I agree many advise against transfer