General pension advice for a pension virgin(ish)

bootsandblisters

Hello all, I'm looking for advice on pensions. Consider me a pensions virgin in that I've never really dipped my toe in the water but I'm ready now.

I was employed with the civil service for 6 months but recent defra cuts meant my role wasn't extended. I accrued 6 months pension (ca£4.5k) and am approaching the limit to transfer this (end july). I want to retain the whole and not just my contributions. Leaving aside that the transfer process can be painful (I read the recent thread), what I'm after is advice on whether it's best to transfer into my new pension or start a SIPP.

I have a new role with a Nest pension and min contributions (employer 3%, me 5%). I have various existing pensions from previous jobs, and a private pension set up years ago (royal london cis, only has £1k in it). I'm 44 and, for various reasons, not best set up pension-wise, so I'm looking to sort this out. Better late than never right?

I'm in a position to add additional contributions to either my nest or a SIPP pension, and interested in the best way to 1. Transfer my civil service pension, 2. Pay more into a pension, and 3. Consolidate my other pensions. The advice out there is overwhelming and confusing, I'm hoping to get a clear steer and good advice here if possible. Happy to provide info as needed.

Many thanks

Marcon

bootsandblisters said:

Hello all, I'm looking for advice on pensions. Consider me a pensions virgin in that I've never really dipped my toe in the water but I'm ready now.

I was employed with the civil service for 6 months but recent defra cuts meant my role wasn't extended. I accrued 6 months pension (ca£4.5k) and am approaching the limit to transfer this (end july). I want to retain the whole and not just my contributions. Leaving aside that the transfer process can be painful (I read the recent thread), what I'm after is advice on whether it's best to transfer into my new pension or start a SIPP.

I have a new role with a Nest pension and min contributions (employer 3%, me 5%). I have various existing pensions from previous jobs, and a private pension set up years ago (royal london cis, only has £1k in it). I'm 44 and, for various reasons, not best set up pension-wise, so I'm looking to sort this out. Better late than never right?

I'm in a position to add additional contributions to either my nest or a SIPP pension, and interested in the best way to 1. Transfer my civil service pension, 2. Pay more into a pension, and 3. Consolidate my other pensions. The advice out there is overwhelming and confusing, I'm hoping to get a clear steer and good advice here if possible. Happy to provide info as needed.

Many thanks

Some basic reading would be a good start: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en

Do you want to take investment decisions? If not, perhaps a non-SIPP personal pension would be a better choice?

I don't know the thread to which you're referring (plenty of options!), but you certainly need to get on and get the transfer request underway or you'll miss out on the employer contributions. Why not focus on that as it's the only deadline you currently need to worry about?

bootsandblisters

Civil service pension transfer is top of the list, but I don't know where best to put it, hence asking the question here.

Never invested before, considering opening a stocks & shares isa - may be a better place to start than a SIPP. 

I suppose the key question is: do I transfer my civil service pension into my current Nest Pension, my Royal London one or a new private pension. I didn't receive the letter informing me of the need to transfer it that long ago, and there was helpfully a time limit warning but no deadline date. I know it's a 3 month window so I'm pre-empting that as meaning 3 months after my leaving date. 

QrizB

Given your admitted inexperience and your deadline, I'd suggest transferring it into your Nest pension. Otherwise you risk missing the boat completely.

MX5huggy

Transfer the CS pension to Nest is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, nest don’t charge fees for the transfer and their ongoing fee is a reasonable 0.3% (not the cheapest but reasonable). 

Then you should do some real research and thinking. What are your financial goals? Etc. 

LHW99

Also, dig out the details of the "various existing pensions from previous jobs, and a private pension set up years ago".

Work out what is in them, the charges and if you can operate them yourself, or if it has to be done via an adviser (possibly the one "set up" ll those years ag).

Then you could come back here with the information for people to comment, or take a view yourself on which to keep and whether combining them into a smaller number (and how) is beneficial.

bootsandblisters

Thanks all, advice noted. Sorted out transfer to Nest today - all done by paper and mail like the dark ages, but at least the ball's rolling. Onto my previous pensions next, and I'll come back when I have any questions.

Simon11

Any government pension (defined benefit schemes), I would leave well alone and only consider transferring to another government pension scheme. They come with lots of benefits that private pensions (which are typically defined contribution) do not have.

dunstonh

bootsandblisters said:

Thanks all, advice noted. Sorted out transfer to Nest today - all done by paper and mail like the dark ages, but at least the ball's rolling. Onto my previous pensions next, and I'll come back when I have any questions.

Yep, Nest is awful.  Their admin is old-fashioned and a complete disaster when you want your money out—currently quoting 8-12 weeks on transfers out or open market option.   

ussdave

Simon11 said:

Any government pension (defined benefit schemes), I would leave well alone and only consider transferring to another government pension scheme. They come with lots of benefits that private pensions (which are typically defined contribution) do not have.

Isn't the issue here that the OP wasn't in the pension scheme long enough and therefore had no choice to transfer out?

bootsandblisters

Sorry for vanishing, super busy.

Yes, issue was that I HAD to transfer out as only in the pension for 6 months. Nest has actually been pretty good, all comms are online and generally quite quick - it's the Civil Service who insist everything is paper-based. Mindful of time, I've sorted out the transfer through Nest; no idea if it'll be done in time for the arbitrary deadline because the Civil Service letter didn't advise how long the deadline was or when it ended - I know it's 3 months, but nothing more; they took 2 months sending the letter to me so I hope it doesn't start from the date I left.

Hopefully all will be ok. I'll find some time to look at old pensions and come back with details. Thanks for the guidance so far.