Aegon/Retiready: should I stay or should I go?

readyornot63

Hello, everyone - newbie here. I'd welcome your help.

I'm 60 & now volunteering full time. I haven't paid into a pension for years: after a patchwork of short-term/irregular contracts I have 5 pension pots, all small-ish: 4 total c £50k all in; the 5th & biggest, Aegon/Retiready, is c£70k - so a total fund overall of just under £120k.

I don't need the money now (I rented my flat out when I moved in with my husband). The consensus generally seems to be to leave money in a pension as long as possible (especially given Truss/Kwarteng's famous five minutes), so my thinking was to defer all 5 pots to age 65. I've now done that with the other 4 - but not Retiready. The reason for that: my experience with them hasn't been great - poor customer service, slow communications (you can't email them; good luck getting through on the 'phone), a ropey, out-of-date website & (I think) high charges (c £600pa). It seems I'm not alone - Trustpilot reviews aren't pretty: mostly 1/5 with comments to match. 

To my conundrum, then: I'd rather not be relying on Retiready, so if I can stop being their customer that's attractive. I'm looking at taking the 25% tax free then buying an annuity, tho' given the modest pot size I'm keen not to spend lots on IFAs, transfer fees etc. Equally I don't want to cut my nose, so I'd welcome your thoughts on what you'd do in my shoes: buy an annuity now, transfer to another provider (ideally with a better reputation for customer service) or sit tight & defer to age 65? 

For background: I've had my Pension Wise meeting, I've researched a fair amount & I'm risk averse. I haven't seen an IFA yet, assuming I need one. Irrelevant to the subject at hand but for context: I was mis-sold years ago (and compensated without me asking for it, which indicates both my level of understanding and the scale of the mis-selling) so that's where my IFA wariness comes from. I'm aware that getting it done feels like an important motivator for me, tho' again I don't want to act in haste & repent very, very slowly...

Sincere thanks in advance for your advice: reading so many threads on similar subjects here I appreciate the collective expertise and your generosity in sharing it, thank you.

dunstonh

For background: I've had my Pension Wise meeting, I've researched a fair amount & I'm risk averse.

What risks are you averse to?   A lot of people that say they are risk averse don't actually understand all of the risks and often just focus on one of them and that can lead to taking greater overall risk than they realise.

It seems I'm not alone - Trustpilot reviews aren't pretty: mostly 1/5 with comments to match. 

Never use trustpilot on financial products.   Its a waste of space.

he consensus generally seems to be to leave money in a pension as long as possible (especially given Truss/Kwarteng's famous five minutes)

Truss's short-term tenure has had no lasting impact on your investments.

Albermarle

I think we need some clarity whether the 4 pension pots are all standard DC schemes ( ie no guaranteed benefits etc )
If so there is no such thing as deferring them . You can take them at any time from age 55, or never take them. It is up to you.
If they are all standard DC schemes you can easily transfer them with no regulatory need for financial advice, and nowadays unlikely to be any transfer fees. Normally can all be done on line.

What is more important is what investments are held within the pension(s) in the long term.
 

readyornot63

dunstonh said:

For background: I've had my Pension Wise meeting, I've researched a fair amount & I'm risk averse.

What risks are you averse to?   A lot of people that say they are risk averse don't actually understand all of the risks and often just focus on one of them and that can lead to taking greater overall risk than they realise.

It seems I'm not alone - Trustpilot reviews aren't pretty: mostly 1/5 with comments to match. 

Never use trustpilot on financial products.   Its a waste of space.

he consensus generally seems to be to leave money in a pension as long as possible (especially given Truss/Kwarteng's famous five minutes)

Truss's short-term tenure has had no lasting impact on your investments.

Thanks so much for this - point taken on Trustpilot; v interesting on Truss. As for risk: I'm more of a cash ISA than a stocks & shares ISA kind of a gal. Agree not understanding the risks prompts caution. Appreciate you taking the time to reply - I've seen your name a lot! With all good wishes.

readyornot63

Albermarle said:

I think we need some clarity whether the 4 pension pots are all standard DC schemes ( ie no guaranteed benefits etc )
If so there is no such thing as deferring them . You can take them at any time from age 55, or never take them. It is up to you.
If they are all standard DC schemes you can easily transfer them with no regulatory need for financial advice, and nowadays unlikely to be any transfer fees. Normally can all be done on line.

What is more important is what investments are held within the pension(s) in the long term.
 

And another familiar name - thank you so much, very much appreciate you getting in touch. Correct: no guaranteed benefits. This is really helpful - thank you. Hope you have a good Bank Hol weekend.