Should I combine my Pensions

smilingdiver

Hi all,
I understand very little when it comes to pensions, so please be gentle. I accept I may need to speak to a financial advisor, but I thought I would test the waters here first. 

I currently receive 2 x police pensions (1987 and 2015 schemes). I retired this year the day after my 55th birthday with just shy of 30 years service. 

Prior to joining the police I had contracted out of SERPs for a while and that pension pot is now with Utmost. It is quite small at about £35,000. 

I have now been employed by the police as a staff member and as such a work place pension has been set up with peninsula pensions. 

So the questions that I have are-

Should I move my utmost pension into my Peninsula pension (if they allow it)?

Are there any downsides to combining the pensions?

Could this affect my police pensions at all? I assume not but……..

Many thanks. 

Silvertabby

Looks like Peninsula administer the LGPS for your new employer, which makes sense - civvie police service workers were all members of the LGPS in my time as an administrator.

First thing to do will be to check if Peninsula will indeed accept a transfer in.  Many LGPS employers have opted to limit transfers in to other DB funds (typically other public sector pensions) so if they won't accept your transfer then that's the end of it.

If they do accept such transfers, then ask for an estimate of how much LGPS pension your £35K will buy you.  If you don't like the answer, then you are under no obligation to go ahead with the transfer (unless you sign the actual transfer instructions).

No, this pension - transferred or not - won't affect your police pension.  And note that the time limit for transfer in is just 12 months, so don't dally. 

No need to speak to (and pay!) a financial advisor for something like this.

Albermarle

Firstly be aware there are basically two different types of pension ( ignoring the state pension)
Defined Benefit (DB)- such as most public sector pensions, like the Police pension and you new pension.
Defined Contribution ( DC) - such as most private sector pensions and the one you have £35K in

DB pensions are generally much better than DC pensions, as they offer a guaranteed income which is expensive for the employer/taxpayer.

This government website can be useful. 
Pension basics | Help with pension basics | MoneyHelper

smilingdiver

Silvertabby said:

Looks like Peninsula administer the LGPS for your new employer, which makes sense - civvie police service workers were all members of the LGPS in my time as an administrator.

First thing to do will be to check if Peninsula will indeed accept a transfer in.  Many LGPS employers have opted to limit transfers in to other DB funds (typically other public sector pensions) so if they won't accept your transfer then that's the end of it.

If they do accept such transfers, then ask for an estimate of how much LGPS pension your £35K will buy you.  If you don't like the answer, then you are under no obligation to go ahead with the transfer (unless you sign the actual transfer instructions).

No, this pension - transferred or not - won't affect your police pension.  And note that the time limit for transfer in is just 12 months, so don't dally. 

No need to speak to (and pay!) a financial advisor for something like this.

Thank you. This is really helpful.