Help Needed Please

princess23

Hi everyone i am about to be tuped in the next three months. The situation is that my new employer will be introducing a new pension scheme which therefore leaves my existing one with no further contributions (I have a DC pension with Standard Life). My question is having three years left of employment what are my options as i will still be paying management fees on S.L. and it would seem not to be worthwhile to transfer for the sake of three years. Could anyone offer me some advice/options on what to do thank you.

flaneurs_lobster

One factor to consider, you are likely to have a decent discount on your management fees at SL because it's a corporate scheme - likely to continue if the scheme is paused for contributions.

princess23

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Obviously with a short time to go before retirement there may still be some funds in a higher risk would it be advisable to inform S.L to put my funds in a lower risk plan. I have 350k in my pension pot.

flaneurs_lobster

You need to look at where your funds are invested. Do you have online access to Standard Life, they have an OK website which will at least show where you are invested?

You will (should) have set up a Plan Retirement Date, SL will have shifted your money to their "less risky" funds by default unless you have intervened.

Not making any attempts to offer advice here, but perhaps if you post where your money is currently at others may have a view.

dunstonh

 My question is having three years left of employment what are my options as i will still be paying management fees on S.L. and it would seem not to be worthwhile to transfer for the sake of three years. 

Why 3 years?
are you planning to draw the whole fund in 3 years time?
Most people draw their pension over their lifetime and not all of it in one go.  So, it would be there for longer.

Management fees are irrelevant.  They are percentage-based.  So, 10 pensions with a 0.50% AMC would have exactly the same charge as 1 pension with a 0.50% AMC.

I have 350k in my pension pot.

So, its unlikely you would be spending that whole amount in 3 years time. Meaning the money will be there for much longer.

Moonwolf

My DC is with Standard Life and as it is an employer group pension scheme I get a big discount on the published fund rates, my total costs are currently 0.28% which isn’t notably expensive, my pot is £400k. I was TUPEd to the NHS with a DB scheme but I checked with Standard Life and they applied the discount to new savings so I paid extra pension into SL for the last few years before I retired this year.

Obviously pay the extra into your new pension as long as your employer is matching and if the new scheme is cheaper.

Marcon

princess23 said:

Hi everyone i am about to be tuped in the next three months. The situation is that my new employer will be introducing a new pension scheme which therefore leaves my existing one with no further contributions (I have a DC pension with Standard Life). My question is having three years left of employment what are my options as i will still be paying management fees on S.L. and it would seem not to be worthwhile to transfer for the sake of three years. Could anyone offer me some advice/options on what to do thank you.

I think you're focussing a bit too much on the 3 year bit. If your new scheme has a better charging structure and offers a choice of investments which are similar to, or broader than, your SL scheme, it may be worth considering transferring.

Albermarle

flaneurs_lobster said:

You need to look at where your funds are invested. Do you have online access to Standard Life, they have an OK website which will at least show where you are invested?

You will (should) have set up a Plan Retirement Date, SL will have shifted your money to their "less risky" funds by default unless you have intervened.

Not making any attempts to offer advice here, but perhaps if you post where your money is currently at others may have a view.

Only if the OP is in some kind of lifestyle arrangement, which we do not know.
I have a SL pension and was never in a lifestyle pension, although it was set up many years ago.

OP - In case you do not know a 'Lifestyle' or ' Retirement date' pension, is one that starts up with a high equity ( shares) % when you are younger, and starts to reduce risk as you get near retirement. ( or more accurately near the retirement date they have in their system for you - usually 65) 
Sounds like a good idea, but they tend to overdo the derisking.

LHW99

If, as per the comments above, your SL scheme has discounted fees, then you will still have the options to transfer in 3 years. That could be:

     New pension to SL pension

     SL pension to new pension

     SL & new pension to another provider.

You may find only one of those options will allow you to take your pension how you wish.

Have you thought of a free conversation with Pensionwise?

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement

They give guidance (not advice) and will explain any terminology you don't understand.

princess23

Thank you everyone for giving me advice its something I'm not very confident with so I appreciate all your help.  I might be back for more advice in the coming days hope you don't mind. Thanks 😊 

princess23

Hi guys I have four pension pots an SL sustainable multi asset pre retirement fund. It has a volatility of 4. A SL sustainable multi asset which has a volatility rating of 5. I also have an SL at retirement universal which has a volatility rating of 3 and finally a SL inv pathway option 1 pension fund which has a volatility rating of 4 also. (0 - 7 with 7 being highest risk) . Considering I'm planning to retire in 3 years time  would you consider these to be in the right categories if that makes sense.  Also I won't be making any further monthly contributions as I will be in a newer pension with my new employer. I am just concerned what will then happen with my SL pension. Obviously I need to see what my new pension provider/employer will offer me to then make a decision whether to transfer all of my funds over including taking into account any fees for doing so.  I am not a risk taker so am concerned that once I stop paying into SL what will happen with the markets and how it will effect my funds. Is there anything I can do I.e. move to a lower risk category or am I being over cautious? I hope this all makes sense and thank you again for any help/advice you can offer.
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