Pension options

caledonian80

Hi,
My son has 8/9 small pensions with 5/6 providers after being auto-enrolled by previous employers.
He has now found a job which he will hopefully stay in for many years and will soon get auto-enrolled in their pension scheme.
My question is where is the best place to get advice about what to do about all the small pensions accrued from previous employment.
They don't add up to much, the total of the largest one is around £2k I think.
Has anyone else had a few jobs and ended up with several small pensions, what, if anything, did you do.
Thanks.

Somebody

I have moved various pots to a current employer's plan before.

kempiejon

The fella's new pension might allow transfers in? Of course his plans might change and he moves on. 
I had 5 and collected 4 of them all together into a SIPP.  Makes the paperwork easier. I left one out because at the time I forgot about it. If one does start a SIPP then one needs to make a decisions about where to hold it, what it costs and then what too invest it in. One doesn't have too combine pensions, perhaps the son can take control work out what he has where and what it costs?

xylophone

Will his new workplace pension accept transfers in?

Albermarle

caledonian80 said:

Hi,
My son has 8/9 small pensions with 5/6 providers after being auto-enrolled by previous employers.
He has now found a job which he will hopefully stay in for many years and will soon get auto-enrolled in their pension scheme.
My question is where is the best place to get advice about what to do about all the small pensions accrued from previous employment.
They don't add up to much, the total of the largest one is around £2k I think.
Has anyone else had a few jobs and ended up with several small pensions, what, if anything, did you do.
Thanks.

You will not be able to get professional advice about such smaller amounts.

However transferring such pensions is relatively easy and free. Probably easiest just to transfer them all in to the new employer pension if possible.

kempiejon

A few people - me included offered the suggestion of combining with the new employer's pension. Things that would then matter are where would it be invested and what does it cost. You save admin bby having it all in one place but where are the other pensions invested and what are the charges?
Good teachable moment for those not well versed in pensions wrangling. It was amongst my first steps towards taking control.

caledonian80

Somebody said:

I have moved various pots to a current employer's plan before.

Yes, I am aware that is a possibility, hopefully the new provider accepts transfers in.kempiejon said:

A few people - me included offered the suggestion of combining with the new employer's pension. Things that would then matter are where would it be invested and what does it cost. You save admin bby having it all in one place but where are the other pensions invested and what are the charges?
Good teachable moment for those not well versed in pensions wrangling. It was amongst my first steps towards taking control.

I will have a look at the other pensions and their charges.
I also wonder how common this is/is going to be as I think more and more people will have a few jobs in their working life in this day and age.
Thanks for the replies so far.

dunstonh

I also wonder how common this is/is going to be as I think more and more people will have a few jobs in their working life in this day and age.

It's no more common than it has been for decades. It's been about 30 years since the days of job for life.    And since there are no exit or entry charges on the vast majority of pensions arranged since 2001 (notable exceptions apply) then its pretty easy to move them around.

caledonian80

dunstonh said:

I also wonder how common this is/is going to be as I think more and more people will have a few jobs in their working life in this day and age.

It's no more common than it has been for decades. It's been about 30 years since the days of job for life.    And since there are no exit or entry charges on the vast majority of pensions arranged since 2001 (notable exceptions apply) then its pretty easy to move them around.

I see,
In my small group of family and friends they have all been in jobs for many years, need to expand my circle 😄
As I said above, I will have a look at the new pension provider and check the details.
If there is anything I need to enquire about, is it okay to ask here?
Thanks

kempiejon

You may as well get the progeny to look into a SIPP too. One has more direct control, it can be cheaper and it's a good skill to be able to understand where your pension is invested, what charges are doing to returns and how it performs. Company pensions are generally OK but I found I could do improve choice and fee going self service.

Albermarle

I also wonder how common this is/is going to be as I think more and more people will have a few jobs in their working life in this day and age.

I think there is some kind of government working party looking at the possibility of transporting your pension with you from job to job. However is easier said than done.

If there is anything I need to enquire about, is it okay to ask here?

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