Pension transfer as part of divorce

LivingMyBestLife46

As part of my divorce, I am due to receive £100K and need to place this into a pension.

Any advice on how I choose a pension provider? What I need to consider and what I need to be aware of?

tacpot12

The principle things to consider are:

- can the provider offer you the sort of investments you want? Most people are likely to need very 'standard' investments, so most firms will be able to do this. The investments you need will depend to some degree on the time you have before you expect to need to draw on your pension. If this is very short, say less than 10 years, then a larger proportion of the investments should be in assets that have a very low volatility; cash and money market funds. If you need help to select what to invest in, you could take professional financial advice, which might cost a few thousand pounds, or you could decide what to invest in yourself. There are clearly risks in going down a DIY route if you are not familiar with the investment landscape. 

- can the provider offer you the sort of withdrawal arrangements you expect to want when you are ready to draw on your pension? All providers can send the money to an annuity provier and most can offer some form of flexible drawdown. Again, your needs are likley to be quite standard and most providers should be able to offer you the full range of withdrawal arrangements you might want. 

- are they well-organised, quick and reliable? Some basic reasearch to see what problems other customers have had with the providers will usually reveal if their systems and processes are clunky. This often shows itself in how quickly they respond to customer requests.
 
- are they financially stable? Selecting one of the larger and most reputable providers will usually be safest.

dunstonh

As part of my divorce, I am due to receive £100K and need to place this into a pension.

Has the tax-free cash already been taken from the pension (by your ex) or is it still available?