IFA for pensions advice

[Gottasinggottadance]

I have 6 personal pensions of varying amounts (pot total is about £60k). Is it worth me speaking to an IFA to see if any of them could be consolidated?

I also have a bit extra I can put in to my pension, and am wondering which one of them would be good to top up. One of the pensions is with my current employer but their contributions are already at the maximum amount.

Do you have full plan details and current valuations of every pension plan?

This should tell you what the annual product and fund charges are, which will help you see which are the least and most expensive.

It should also tell you whether any of them have any safeguarded benefits or guarantees, which could be valuable and would be lost if you transferred out.

And see whether they accept transfers in - any that don't will be no good as the receiving scheme for consolidating.

The fee an IFA would charge to look at this for you is probably going to be at least £600 and possibly up to £1800. Only you can decide if that is worth paying to get it all sorted out on your behalf.

I do have full details. I really know nearly zero about pensions so hadn't considered I could find out the fund charges but I will look these out

If it's not clear from the paperwork then you can ring the product providers up to ask.

You don’t need to pay an IFA - MoneyHelper is a free service provided by the Money and Pensions Service:

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/building-your-retirement-pot/uk-pension-transfers#

Thank you - I know I need to do a bit of legwork but maybe this is something I can do myself.

I would also make sure that you have an understaning of the risks of moving them if you were to DIY.
Any enhanced tax free cash? Any GAR's? Any minimum fund values? Charges comparisons etc

Gar, I guess this is why I wondered about paying an IFA for advice as I don't necessarily understand the risks of moving them. Is something like pension bee a good option?

@Gottasinggottadance

Gar, I guess this is why I wondered about paying an IFA for advice as I don't necessarily understand the risks of moving them. Is something like pension bee a good option?

This is the point, lots of old pensions have very valuable benefits to them. Guaranteed annuity rates, enhanced tax free cash etc.

Pension Bee is transactional, and you are liable for the advice.

I would look for an IFA that will do a fixed fee.

I would rather pay £750 for a report, than transfer and lose thousands in benefits.

Would you do your own conveyancing on your home?