Pension Query

[RayofFuckingSunshine]

I was hoping I could pick the brains of someone more knowledgable than me regarding an old pension pot of my husbands.

He has today received an annual statement from Aviva, regarding a pension pot that he no longer pays into (it was from a previous employment, and his employer also paid into it, in case that is relevant). It's currently worth nearly 17k (fund value and transfer value). It gained just over £300 in the year, and charges were around £100 for the year.

He has a pension that he is paying into through his current employer, his employer also pays into this.

We are both unsure of what to do with this Aviva pot for the best, or even what the options are. Should we move it across to the current pot that he is paying into? Leave it where it is? Move it elsewhere? Can we move it, and if so what sort of thing should we even be looking for? Is it even worth thinking about?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[redhat]

I don't think you can get advice like that on here really. Nobody can tell you without knowing a lot more.

Generally however I think the advice is not to move them around because of the cost of doing so.

[RayofFuckingSunshine]

Thanks, I appreciate that it's difficult to know what to suggest but we are both really clueless - I figured asking for any relevant advice on here was better than potentially wasting money asking a financial advisor in the first instance. It hadn't even occurred to me that there may be a huge cost in transferring it, so thanks for that, we will probably just leave it where it is if that's the case.

[redhat]

I think you should ask the question of the provider if you're even considering it.

[pizzaeatingmonkey]

Go to an independant financial adviser, who has been recommended to you.
Mind takes a small % of what he's made me on top of what it would have been if I left it, so quids in! If it's very old they generally need to be moved. Mine was moved 4 years ago and it's now in 6 figures :)

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

For 17k you'd be hard pressed to find an IFA willing to move it. The FCA have made it so difficult that the cost would outweigh the benefit.

Make sure it's in equities, ignore the ups and downs (it's a red herring) and I'd sit tight.

[Eustace2016]

Often they want you to swap to another provider so they get a big charge now. you might be better waiting until he is 55 and then taking it at cash.

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

Not on 17k they wouldn't. It's not worth the work

[IceMaiden73]

You need to speak to an IFA, though £17k isn't a huge amount of money

[concertplayer]

Eustace- the most you can take out tax free when you reach 55 is 25% (though
this may change)

[pinkhorse]

I'm guessing it's a money purchase pension scheme with Aviva as you mention annual statements with a fund value on. Is the new employers scheme also a money purchase scheme or final salary scheme?

[EllyMayClampett]

12 years ago I moved my work based defined contribution pension to Hargreaves Landsdowne. The pension was only worth about £25K at the time. They handled the paperwork. I did have to sign something saying that o understood what I was doing. Hargreaves Landsdown is a cheap and cheerful internet based SIPP and ISA provider. You pick your own funds. No advice is given. Tracker funds are an easy answer.

[FurbysMakeSexNoises]

I was given advice by an IFA about moving a poorly Scottish widows pension of a similar amount to Fidelity Funds Network- have it invested in a Vantage Lifestrategy 60 Fund (Accumulation).

Fidelity are great and it's easy to do it yourself and they have a free phone number to talk you through stuff (am in no way affiliated to them!).

[Tangoandcreditcards]

I have a v similar pot knocking about (also Aviva). I've just left it as is. Sensible to spread risk across different providers and as others have said, the cost and hassle aren't worth it. I've left it ticking over for about 10 years now.

[FurbysMakeSexNoises]

Sorry Vanguard lifestrategy not vantage.

[overstressed]

I had a small pot with Standard Life (from old work, many years ago) and had it recently moved over to Fidelity (current work) mainly because of the fees, as Standard Life charged something like 0.5% a year (similar to yours it seems) while Fidelity charged 0.1%. The transfer didn't cost anything, aside from being out of the market for a week or so (so this could be a positive, it's basically random, in my case it made almost zero difference).