32 & Out of Work since 2017 with two pension pots...

Snuffkin_64

Hi There,

I am 32 and have been out of work since 2017 due to disability and mobility issues, although I had a few odd jobs in 2019 for which a Nest pension pot was set up by my employer. I had already had a pension with Scottish Widows but since 2017 nothing has been paid in obviously. 

There's about £90 in my Nest pension and roughly £2,500 with Scottish Widows. SW have sent me a letter notifying me that they are closing some funds that my plan was invested in on June 6th 2023. I was not aware of any changes in June, but they are transferring this into a replacement fund with a yearly charge of 0.820% rather than the 1.020%.

I am not too clued up on this sort of thing, but I'm wondering if I should make any changes considering my circumstances (I'm likely to be on disability for the foreseeable future). Is there any way that I can transfer my Nest into my Scottish Widows account, or both to somewhere else? Or is it best to just leave everything where it is?

Ideally I'd like to make payments towards my pension, they'll be small but better than nothing. Would it be best to go about doing this via NI contributions?

Marcon

Snuffkin_64 said:

Hi There,

I am 32 and have been out of work since 2017 due to disability and mobility issues, although I had a few odd jobs in 2019 for which a Nest pension pot was set up by my employer. I had already had a pension with Scottish Widows but since 2017 nothing has been paid in obviously. 

There's about £90 in my Nest pension and roughly £2,500 with Scottish Widows. SW have sent me a letter notifying me that they are closing some funds that my plan was invested in on June 6th 2023. I was not aware of any changes in June, but they are transferring this into a replacement fund with a yearly charge of 0.820% rather than the 1.020%.

I am not too clued up on this sort of thing, but I'm wondering if I should make any changes considering my circumstances (I'm likely to be on disability for the foreseeable future). Is there any way that I can transfer my Nest into my Scottish Widows account, or both to somewhere else? Or is it best to just leave everything where it is?

Ideally I'd like to make payments towards my pension, they'll be small but better than nothing. Would it be best to go about doing this via NI contributions?

You don't need to take any immediate action in terms of merging or moving your pensions, but worth having a read of this to help you decide if you might wish to do so: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-3550085/STEVE-WEBB-merge-small-pension-pots.html

You can contribute a maximum of £3,600 gross to a pension if you have no earned income (you pay in £2,880 and the provider claims tax relief at basic rate and adds it to your 'pot', bringing it up to £3,600).

You can't do this via NI contributions, partly because you aren't paying NI but more importantly because that option no longer exists (it was abolished for defined contribution schemes back in 2012, and finally ended for all schemes in 2016).

QrizB

Snuffkin_64 said:

I am 32 and have been out of work since 2017 due to disability and mobility issues, although I had a few odd jobs in 2019 for which a Nest pension pot was set up by my employer. I had already had a pension with Scottish Widows but since 2017 nothing has been paid in obviously.

and:

Marcon said:

You can't do this via NI contributions, partly because you aren't paying NI but more importantly because that option no longer exists (it was abolished for defined contribution schemes back in 2012, and finally ended for all schemes in 2016).

Further to this, are you receiving benefits that include NI credits?
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility