Pension - transfer or not?

[doolally1]

Leaving company after 12 yrs do I transfer my pension to new company or leave it? Should I get IFA? Just wondering what others do?

Get IFA.

Actually if you try to transfer it the pension provider you are trying to move it to might insist you get advice.

Ok thank you

If its worth more than £30k you will need financial advice but only if transferring from a defined benefit/final salary scheme to a defined contribution/money purchase scheme.

Pensions aren't normally tied to companies anymore, they should be in a private pension company and completely owned by you.

It's up to you if you merge the old one with your new one. The advice I was given by my IFA was that you should keep them separate if they're sizeable and merge them if they're small. Keeping them separate is lower risk, but then you have the overhead of managing two pensions.

I merged mine when I moved companies a couple of years ago. Speaking to an IFA is sensible if you're talking about large sums of money.

My IFA wanted 3% for taking the lump sum.
I was like and left it where it was.

Up to you! Just do a check on where it is now and your options for moving it.
Dig out your paperwork and give them a call. Ask about exit terms and fees.
If you do decide to move you’ll need to choose a new home for the pension. Again it’ll take a bit of research and thinking about what you want. Do you want to forget about it and pay someone like an adviser to manage it for you (3% is not unusual for this). Are you happy to make your own decisions (cheaper but you need to actually do it!).
Have a think and learn at least the basics. Start with finding out what you have now. Charges and your options for moving it.
Good luck op! It’s easier than it sounds. Just loads of jargon but when you get your head round it you’ll be fine

You can transfer it yourself.

You need to ring the provider and you can change it from a group pension to a private pension (they’ll talk you through it). Mine didn’t charge for this.

You can then make the decision to transfer into your new company pension if you want to. Again you can do this yourself. There’s a section on the providers website to guide you through this.

You can also look at the funds etc your pension is in and look at the performance and make a decision from there.

A very difficult and potentially risky decision to make .
Definitely seek IFA.

You need proper advice from a proper IFA. There are lots of variables, and lots of sharks. Also the experience of a few posters on here isn't the best guide.

Where to op?

Why not move it into a sipp?

Somewhere with low fees like vanguard? Vanguard have just launched low cost sipps.

Not all pensions are as good as each other though!
My old companies one is brilliant and the investments are making money each year.
My new one is awful!
I'm thinking of using my new contributions and putting it into my old one!

It's around 35k and defined contribution. It's with Aviva & will be moving to another defined contribution scheme.

If you ask your current pension provider for a transfer quote they should give you all the information you need. They are also required to give you details of free impartial government websites etc that can help you decide if it's in your best interests to move. I cant remember the websites off top of my head cos been off work a few weeks now and brain turned to pregnancy mush!!