Managing your retirement savings in one place
One thing retirement is not, is an age. Not any more anyway. Gone are the days of being told to stop working one day and pick up your pension the next. Today you have new pension freedoms to decide when and how you retire. A Guide To Pension Consolidation is here to help you make the most of that retirement pot.
By the time we have been working for a decade or two, it is not uncommon to have accumulated multiple pension schemes. There’s no wrong time to start thinking about pension consolidation, but you might find yourself thinking about it if you’re starting a new job or nearing retirement. Consolidating your pensions means bringing them together into a new plan, so you can manage your retirement saving in one place. It can be a complex decision to work out whether you would be better or worse off combining your pensions, but by making the most of your pensions now, this could have a significant impact on your retirement.
Types of pension
There are two types of pension – Defined Contribution (DC) and Defined Benefit (DB) pensions. DC pensions (the most common type) are where you build up a pot of money over your working life. Contributions come from you and possibly your employer, providing you with an income in retirement. Obviously you can also have a government pension but this is not something we advise on.
DB (or final salary) pensions are company pensions that pay you a set income based on how long you work for the business and how much you earn. They provide a valuable guaranteed retirement income, but aren’t that common now.
Boosting your savings for retirement
There are many things to consider when looking to consolidate your pensions, such as the types of pensions you hold. Your existing pensions may have valuable guarantees that you could lose if you transfer out of the scheme, your current pension may have higher or lower product charges, and there may also be charges to transfer your pension to a new company. You should also consider which death benefits are already in place.
Some alternative pension options may offer the potential for a better investment return than existing pensions – giving the opportunity to boost savings in retirement without saving any more. In addition, some people might benefit from moving their money to a pension that offers funds with less risk – which may not have been available before. This could be particularly important as someone moves towards retirement, when they might not want to take as much risk with the money they’ve saved throughout their working life. A Guide To Pension Consolidation is essential to this.
Retirement Income
If someone has several different pensions, it can be difficult to keep track of the charges they’re paying to existing pension providers. By consolidating pensions into a new plan, lower charges could be available. However, it’s important to fully understand the charges on existing plans before considering consolidating pensions.
Consolidating pensions into one pot also reduces paperwork and makes it easier to estimate the income someone can expect to receive in retirement. However, before the decision is made to consolidate pensions, it’s essential to make sure there is no loss of benefits attributable to an existing pension.
The importance of regular reviews & looking at consolidation
It’s important that you review your pension situation regularly. If appropriate to your particular situation, and only after receiving professional financial advice, pension consolidation could enable existing policies to be brought together in one place, ensuring they are managed correctly in line with your wider objectives.
Don’t forget, your pension can and should work for you to provide a better quality of life when you retire. Looked after correctly, it can enable you to do more in retirement, or even start your retirement early.
Defined Contribution (DC)
For DC pensions, most schemes will allow you to transfer and consolidate your pot to another pension scheme – whether that’s your new employer’s scheme or a personal pension. We can check with your provider to see if there’s any reason that you can’t switch.
Defined Benefit (DB)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says that people should begin by assuming that staying in a DB scheme is the best option for them, but in some situations, there may be an advantage to transferring into a DC pension. The UK government insists you take professional financial advice from a regulated financial adviser if you’re thinking of doing this and the value of your pension benefits are worth more than £30,000.
A checklist for consolidating pensions
Before you consider making any decision to consolidate your pensions, you should check if combining your pensions will mean you lose any valuable features, protections or guarantees that you may have in your other pension plans. Check the charges in your plans to see if you’ll be paying more or less in charges as a result. A Guide To Pension Consolidation from our advisor should also be at the top of your list.
The value of your pension pot after consolidating can still fall as well as rise, and isn’t guaranteed. The final value of your pot when you come to take benefits could be less than has been paid in. Any new investment funds into which you move your pension pots will have their own set of risks that will be detailed in the fund information available to you.
If you’re not sure if consolidating your pension pots is right for you, you should always obtain professional pension advice.
Want to talk things through?
Even if you have not had that many jobs, you may still have a number of different pensions to keep track of. Pensions can be confusing, but there is an alternative way to help keep on top of them. To find out more or to discuss you situation, please call us – we look forward to hearing from you & giving you a Guide To Pension Consolidation.
Regulatory Statements
Investments
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Our services relate to certain investments whose prices are dependent on fluctuations in the financial markets outside our control. Investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and you may get back less than the amount you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. If you need professional investment advice, then simply contact us.
True Advice Financial Services is a trading style of TA and SE Hollom Ltd. Which is an Appointed Representative of New Leaf Distribution Ltd. Which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority : Number 460421.
Registered Office : New Leaf Distribution Limited, 165 – 167 High Street, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7QA
This guide is for your general information and use only, and is not intended to address your particular requirements. The content should not be relied upon in its entirety and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute, advice. Although endeavours have been made to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future.
No individual or company should act upon such information without receiving appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of their particular situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of the content. Thresholds, percentage rates and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts. Levels and bases of, and reliefs from, taxation are subject to change and their value depends on the individual circumstances of the investor. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. All figures relate to the 2020/21 tax year, unless otherwise stated.
His qualifications include the LIBF Level 3 Certificate in Regulated Equity Release, IFS Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers, and several other certifications. Tony prides himself on delivering professional, efficient, and thorough service, helping clients navigate financial challenges with confidence.
Outside of work, he enjoys traveling and exploring new places with his wife.
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