Combining old pensions where do I start?

[CelestialGalaxy]

I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to pensions and am keen to learn. I have recently found a couple of old pensions that i didn't know I had. I also have a current employer pension that i am putting as much as possible in and an older employer pension that is still 'open' and i could apparently put more into. The other pensions are 'closed'. How do I work out if it is worth transferring the pensions and what should transfer where and what happens if one pension has different terms eg age?

There are two types of pension - one like NHS and teachers, most government and some companies guarantee a payment each month as long as you live. Do not touch them without specialist advice they are like gold dust and taking the equivalent £££ is unlikely to make sense financially.
If they are you and/or your employer putting in a % each month it may well be worth merging. You can either contact your existing company one and move them into there or keep that separate and move all others into one fund. That could be an existing one or a new one I used to have a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP and move my company one there each time I left a job. It makes sense, it’s easier to manage and know what’s going on across your portfolio.
If you really don’t know what you’re doing then speak to someone a small mistake now can cost thousands down the line.

I would say the first thing to do is get a statement from each of the pensions as to the value and likely benefits. Contact your old employer's HR department if you don't have details, they will steer you.
As the pp said, if any of those pensions are civil service, NHS, local government, then Probably best just to make sure they hold up to date info on your whereabouts (and any death-benefit nominees) and hold onto those pensions. (I hold a civil service pension from the 80s, no action made since 94, it still outperforms my later pensions.)
Keep on with your current employment pension as your employer is also making contributions into your fund. Money for nothing.
If you decide to amalgamate any old pensions, then Vanguard is also a good platform, their costs are relatively low, and their schemes are quite clear and easily understood. I think Vanguard's website is one of the easiest to understand (also probably the most popular, and with the lowest fees) so it's worth a look even if you decide otherwise.

Thanks both. I am fairly sure none are defined benefits (thats the nhs/gov ones right?) as have never worked in these sectors.
I am going to keep my current workplace pension going, but it was more about how do i know if the closed/old pensions should be transferred into one of the 'open' pensions i currently have or not..so should I transfer all into my current employers pension? I have asked for statements but that was two weeks or so ago and nothing has arrived yet, don't know how long it takes. What am I looking for on the statements to help to influence whether it should be left alone or transferred given they all might have different retirement ages (does that matter?) Or anything else that might be different that i should take note of when deciding?

If you’re not in a rush, I’d wait until the annual statements come in over the next few months (new financial year). They will have a transfer value on them. Once you’ve had them all through, decide where to transfer to (Hargreaves Lansdown SIPPs are popular, but have a look at MSE website. Vanguard a low cost and great for small amounts) and then move them across. Should be fairly straightforward.

Thanks for the reply. Why would I transfer them to a SIPP or other new investment when i have a pension(s) already that i could move them into eg reduce 5 pots into one or two?

Have a look at Pensionbee, OP.

Check out if you can even transfer them in to your current pension/s, as you may need to do this within a specified time. When I started my new job I only had a year to transfer in pensions from previous roles.

^as PP said, possible time limit on your current workplace pension, and also to spread your risk. Although you may feel that’s not an issue for you.

I used penshionber to merge all of mine into one pot

*penshion Bee

Thanks i went away and read the pension bee website and I think again it would mean having effectively a new pension. I have contacted my current workplace pension and they say they accept transfers in, so am I guess I have to find out if there are any penalties in transferring out from the old pensions and then maybe pick one other pension that is performing ok and split all the pots between the two? Does that seem reasonable?

OP I looked into doing something similar and was advised not to. It seemed to make sense at the outset - having only one pension plan, one set of charges, everything together - but the fees for transferring-out and transferring-in meant that it did not make financial sense.

Transferring is not free - your pension provider (that you’re moving to) will no doubt want a fee for taking in the new assets, and there will also probably be a fee on the way out charged by your “old” pension provider.

In my case, I would have ended up worse off, and that was even with a couple of my pension pots being only worth i think one was about £30k and one £50k.

I was oddly disappointed- to me it felt neater to have everything together, but it made no sense if I’d be losing money to achieve that.

A financial adviser would be able to calculate for you what your pension investments would have to return % to make up the various fees, and they will want paying for that.

Thanks for your reply. I will look into it, but I'm sure they said there were no fees to transfer in.

And what about transferring out?

As said previously I need to go and find out penalties of transferring out.