Transfer in to CS pension or not?

rachelg

Any wise words much appreciated.

My partner has a pension pot of around 100k from a private sector job, with Fidelity. He has now joined the civil service, aged 42, earning circa 60k.

We are wondering what to do about transferring in. Our children are still young (7 and 4). The Fidelity pension seems to offer more flexibility around drawing down at a younger age, when the children might need money for a house deposit etc. He is in the Alpha pension, which is linked to state pension age. 

Who knows how long anyone will live, what our needs will be etc. I have my own NHS pension. 

We have 6 months left to decide, and despite my best research efforts I am still clueless. 

Thanks in advance.

r6mile

In your situation - given that you already have a Defined Benefit pension, and he will now have one of his own as well - I would be tempted to leave it where it is. As you say a Defined Contribution pot will provide further flexibility. 

If he ever is looking to increase his pension contribution, keep in mind that he will get 40% tax relief on his contributions, and the Civil Service has an Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme with legal&general, which has pretty low charges.

(Thankfully the High-Income Child Benefit Charge is no longer relevant if his salary is 60k, otherwise it would have given a further incentive to increase his pension contributions)

xylophone

He now has a DB pension - you have a DB pension -consider keeping the DC for the flexibility you require?