Private Pension Vs Local Authority Pension

[passmyglassplease]

Does anyone know where can I receive impartial free pension advice?

A little background:

I started recently working for a Local Authority and have joined the Pension Scheme, as part of my divorce settlement I have received a portion of my ex's private pension and now have to decide where is best to put it?

I have looked on the net previously and the general consensus is to put it into the Government Scheme.

Are they as fool proof as they appear or do we think that they will eventually be targeted by the cuts and become reduced in their overall value.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Is the local authority scheme a money purchase, stakeholder-style pensions scheme or a final salary one? Assuming it is the former, policy changes and cuts won't affect the money invested. There are probably going to be changes required to the employee's contribution level (going up) and there may be changes to things like the tax relief on contributions or maximum amounts that can be invested (which would apply to all pensions) but, once the money is in any scheme, the main thing to affect it will be the performance of the investment market.

You should probably see an IFA but if you want general advice on pension schemes and the difference between the various types of scheme then try TPAS (the Pensions Advisory Service).

If you are able to buy defined benefits (e.g. 'added years' of pensionable service) in the Local Authority scheme then I would personally do that, but I am a pensions lawyer not a financial advisor so perhaps not the best person to advise. A financial advisor is what you want really.

Have you checked out the Local Government Pension Scheme website? There is quite a lot of information on there. Perhaps contact your local administrator to find out about the options for what you could get from the LGPS if they would accept the transfer from your ex-H's scheme.

Chil1234, the LGPS is a final salary scheme. The info on the website suggests that AVCs can be used to buy final salary benefits, but whether this would be the best use of the OP's funds is a question for an IFA.