What to do with 100k pension credit

minirobot22

Is anyone able to offer advice about what to do with 100k pension credit from a pension sharing order following divorce? It’s currently with Scottish Widows (SW). They’ve said I need to choose whether to transfer it to a new individual stakeholder pension with SW or transfer to another provider. 

Admittedly I don’t much about private pensions/the best option and I don’t currently have the capability to do lots of research at the moment so I’m looking for the easiest, safest option - that isn’t completely stupid. 

The forms they sent for the stakeholder pension are rather complicated and require me to choose a fund - Plus the management fee is up to 1% per year which seems a lot. But maybe that’s normal? I’m not sure what to do.

I also have £10k in a virgin navigator pension which seems to have been recently taken over by Octopus but I have no idea whether they would take the credit and if that would be a good option or not.

I’m 52, work part time and pay in to a small civil service pension (alpha). Don’t have much spare cash so am not planning on making additional payments in to the SW pension unless I have to, but also don’t want to make any silly decisions.

I have a few health issues and my head is a bit all over the place, I won’t really have the time to do any research until after treatment much later in the year, but I’ve been putting off making a decision so need to do something. Can anyone with a bit more nous offer advice on what would be the safest/easiest option for me at this point? Thanks - much appreciated.

Marcon

The forms they sent for the stakeholder pension are rather complicated and require me to choose a fund - Plus the management fee is up to 1% per year which seems a lot. But maybe that’s normal? I’m not sure what to do.

Given your health issues, maybe now isn't the time to do anything other than take the easy option: transfer to a stakeholder in your own name. You don't have to choose a fund - stakeholders must offer a default option - and there is no exit fee if you later decide to transfer to somewhere else.

poseidon1

Agree @Marcon 's suggestion.

However it would help to understand the benefits and limitations of a stakeholder pension, when deciding if its the correct place to retain your pension funds, once you are in a better position (mentally) to properly consider the matter.

Article below might be useful in that regard -

https://www.ajbell.co.uk/pensions/stakeholder-pensions#:~:text=Stakeholder%20pensions%20have%20the%20following%20characteristics:%20*,can%20make%20a%20large%20difference%20over%20time

minirobot22

thank you both - v much appreciated.

Albermarle

Just to expand on what a 'default fund' is.

Nearly all pensions offer a range of investments which your money in the pension can buy, and then hold within the pension.

Many pensions including workplace pensions and stakeholders have a default fund for those who do not actually choose any investments. Normally it is a medium risk/medium growth fund, sometimes also linked to your potential retirement date.

It is usually not an optimum choice for each individual, but at the same time it is not a bad choice either. At the same time 1% was once competitive but is a bit high nowadays. So again not optimum but not a huge issue either.

You will be able to transfer out of the SW stakeholder pension at a future date if your wish.