Pension - how do I decide

[Joedassin]

I’m due to retire in 3 years at state pension age. I have accumulated 5 other pensions from different employers and such. I know I could bring them all together, but I’m struggling as to whether I should, and what sorts of things I should be focussing on. Not talking about huge amounts in any of them. Any pointers would be helpful!

Make an appointment with Pensionwise, the free, government service. They can talk you through your options. I thought I was pretty clued up on financial stuff but they opened my eyes!

In general, if any of your pensions are defined benefit it's usually best to leave them where they are. If they are pot of money/defined contribution type, find out what the costs being charged to each one, and what they are invested in, before deciding whether to merge them

Thank you @Defiantlynot41 really helpful. One of them is defined benefit which I’m not touching, the others aren’t. I’ll check the charges for each as a start anyway!

Also check the average returns on each one - you don't want to move more of your funds into a poorly performing pension.
I'm about your age and most of my various little pension pots were in low-risk funds as I'm close to retirement (they usually adjust the risk profile depending on your age) so, for me, the only major difference was the charges on each one.
So I've consolidated them all in my current company pension which has the lowest charges, apart from my DB one which, like you, I'm leaving where it is.

@TravelInsuranceQ thank you! I believe I’m similar to you in terms of low risk. I’ve got some good aspects to focus on just now.