Several small pensions

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Hello!

I’ve had a few odd jobs that I’ve done for 6-12 months at a time and now am in a job which I think I will be at for the long haul. I was wondering if I could cash out these pensions early if there is very little money in them?
I know I can transfer but if it’s easier to take the money now and it’s veru little I’d rather do that.
Any help really appreciated!!!

Comments

  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
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    Are you 55 or older ? If so, yes you can.

    Otherwise, no you cannot. Move the money into your current pension.
    And even if you can, put the money into your current pension anyway.

    Otherwise why not cash out each 6 month chunk of your long term pension as you earn it, there's no difference in the reasoning?
  • planteria
    planteria Posts: 5,321 Forumite
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    whether you are 55 is the key.. but if there is no reason to retain them, prob best to transfer them into your current employer's pension scheme and build it up as much as you can.

    fwiw i have small pots that i am happy to hang on to. for example, a pension with LV. as a mutual, in theory they could demutualise or provide a windfall due to a sale of all/part of the business. point is: be sure that you do want to let these small pots go.
  • jamesrobins
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    I had the same issue. I used PensionBee to bring the small pensions together into one pot. They did the leg work which saved me ringing around the different providers and filling out forms. I'm now treating this as a second pension (to the one in my current career) and topping it up here and there. In the future I may move it into a SIPP where the on-going charges will be cheaper.
  • ffacoffipawb
    ffacoffipawb Posts: 3,593 Forumite
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    I had the same issue. I used PensionBee to bring the small pensions together into one pot. They did the leg work which saved me ringing around the different providers and filling out forms. I'm now treating this as a second pension (to the one in my current career) and topping it up here and there. In the future I may move it into a SIPP where the on-going charges will be cheaper.

    Are you having issues with delayed receipt of rax relief. Hargreaves get it in 7 weeks for payments made at the start of the month, but Pension Bee take an extra 2 months. I only just received tax relief for my 1 September contribution a couple of weeks ago. They gave me a c0ck and bull story about delays at HMRC which is not true.

    I am transferring this to Aviva Pension as the delay in tax relief is ridiculous. They will have to transfer October, November and December's tax relief as an when they can be bothered to claim them from HMRC. If they cannot claim this promptly I dont have high hopes for the rest of the administration.
  • jamesrobins
    Options
    Are you having issues with delayed receipt of rax relief. Hargreaves get it in 7 weeks for payments made at the start of the month, but Pension Bee take an extra 2 months. I only just received tax relief for my 1 September contribution a couple of weeks ago. They gave me a c0ck and bull story about delays at HMRC which is not true.

    I am transferring this to Aviva Pension as the delay in tax relief is ridiculous. They will have to transfer October, November and December's tax relief as an when they can be bothered to claim them from HMRC. If they cannot claim this promptly I dont have high hopes for the rest of the administration.

    I have only used it since just before Christmas so this month was my first extra contribution. I have heard of others on this board having this issue so I will see how it goes and if I'm not satisfied transfer to a SIPP.
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