{"id":149,"date":"2020-12-09T10:45:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T10:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/?p=149"},"modified":"2020-12-09T10:45:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T10:45:20","slug":"combining-pensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/combining-pensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Combining pensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Combining pensions. What you need to consider<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve started a new job or have gathered a few different pension plans over the years, it can be tricky to keep on top of what you have. It\u2019s usually possible to combine your pensions into one pot but this comes with pros and cons \u2013 we take a look here to help you decide what\u2019s right for you.<\/p>\n

More than 10 million people have signed up for a workplace pension since the start of automatic enrolment in 2012. Most importantly, this means more than 10 million people are saving for their future with their employer chipping in too. However, with one study finding the average Brit will have six jobs in their lifetime and millennials could have as many as 12, it\u00a0also<\/em>\u00a0means a lot of us\u00a0will be trying to keep track of at least several different pension plans.<\/p>\n

What about combining your pension plans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019re usually allowed to move your pension savings from one plan to another, but some rules and restrictions might apply. So, if you\u2019re moving job, it might be a good idea to consider moving your pension from your old job too. But it won\u2019t be right for everyone. So, before rushing into anything,\u00a0let\u2019s take a closer look at the pros and cons.<\/p>\n

Reasons to consider moving<\/strong><\/p>\n

More flexibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

Modern flexible pensions can offer benefits that older pension plans don\u2019t. For example,\u00a0flexible drawdown<\/a>\u00a0of your pension pot, or access to an income for your loved ones on your death. If these options are important to you, it\u2019s a good idea to check with your provider that they can offer them.<\/p>\n

Less paperwork<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having several pensions may mean you have more paperwork to keep track of. Every time you change address, for example, you\u2019ll need to let all of your pension providers know.<\/p>\n

Every time you want to know the current value of your plan, you\u2019ll have to use different logins to access those different values.\u00a0You may also have a range of different investments that you\u2019ll need to review and make decisions about. You\u2019ll also have to let each provider know individually about where you\u2019d like them to consider paying any\u00a0death benefits.<\/a><\/p>\n

Moving everything into one plan could help to simplify your life.<\/p>\n

Lower charges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every pension plan has its own set of charges and you may find that you can save with one set of fees. A good starting point is to contact your pension providers or carefully check your statements to see what kind of annual charge you\u2019re paying.<\/p>\n

If you have a few pension plans, including some older ones that you may not have checked for some time, it\u2019s a good idea to review the charges. Higher charges can eat away at any investment returns.<\/p>\n

Reasons to consider staying put<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check your benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of your existing pension plans might come with special benefits and guarantees\u00a0that you would be giving up if you transferred your pension savings to a different scheme and this couldn\u2019t be reversed. For example, some \u2018defined benefit\u2019 pensions entitle you to a certain level of income in your retirement. Or older pension plans may have valuable guaranteed annuity rates. So, if you have a pension like this, you may not want to transfer it as you could lose money by transferring.<\/p>\n

The way to find out what you could be giving up if you move is to check with your pension providers or your previous employer. You can read more about what to check for on our\u00a0pe<\/a>nsion transfer\u00a0page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee you\u2019ll get more money as a result of transferring. If you’re unsure whether it is right for you, you should get some financial advice.\u00a0In some cases, you may have to take professional advice before you move a pension, to make sure you understand all the implications.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind that a pension is an investment. Its value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than what was paid in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Combining pensions. What you need to consider If you\u2019ve started a new job or have gathered a few different pension plans over the years, it can be tricky to keep on top of what you have. It\u2019s usually possible to combine your pensions into one pot but this comes with pros and cons \u2013 we… <\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11,8],"tags":[62,63,61,60],"class_list":["post-149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-advice","category-financial-planning-advice","category-pensions-advice","tag-benefits","tag-felxibility","tag-lower-charges","tag-pensions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independentfinancial-advisor.co.uk\/financial-advice-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}