Transferring pension pots question

olb81

I just wondered is moving a pension pot to another pretty much the same thing as moving your bank account or savings account?
Ie, one then old ones closed its just money that's transferred,? 
So there is no record of what your old job was or any other info?
I am referring to solely DC pots.
Thanks

molerat

Unless the DC pension is directly linked to the employer there is unlikely any info as to what your job was and there is never any info about you outside your personal details and NI number. What are you trying to hide, any details held would not be visible to anyone outside of the pension provider anyway. If you move the pension you simply give the new pension provider the old pension details and ask them to transfer it in. Depending on the 2 pensions you my have to liquidate the investments within the pension before transferring or you may be able to transfer the actual investments as they stand.

olb81

Nothing to hide, just wanted to know if it's basically the same as closing a current account and moving it to another bank, for example.

molerat

Closing an account and transferring an account are two completely different things.  There will always be traces of the previous account when transferring with both pensions and bank accounts.  But without deep diving that information will not be visible.

eskbanker

olb81 said:

Nothing to hide, just wanted to know if it's basically the same as closing a current account and moving it to another bank, for example.

Despite some superficial high level similarities, they're different processes that would generally be carried out for different reasons and with different objectives, so there doesn't seem much value in trying to force-fit an arbitrary comparison - if you are currently considering transferring a DC pension, what specifically are you hoping to achieve?

hara____

Transferring pensions can be more complicated than transferring current or savings accounts, or ISAs.

For example, if your existing pension has a protected pension age, you might lose that right if the new provider doesn't support it. Or you need to deliberately choose a new provider that can support it.

So, check for any details like that which may apply to your current scheme. If there aren't any, transfers can be quite straightforward.

Providers like Fidelity have useful guides on what to consider before transferring https://www.fidelity.co.uk/media/PI UK/pdf/guides/fidelitysipp-transfer-factsheet.pdf

dunstonh

I just wondered is moving a pension pot to another pretty much the same thing as moving your bank account or savings account?

no.  A bank account transfer is a single thing.    A pension is a container for upto 30,000 different things (not that you would ever go that high).

Ie, one then old ones closed its just money that's transferred,? 

That part is similar.  i.e. money from A to B.  However, sometimes a second or third transfer is required if there has been residual income received after the transfer.

So there is no record of what your old job was or any other info?

Pension providers dont' have that data.  Employer contribution is the only specific employer data entry.