[Wellsy]

Thanks Wellsy, appreciate you taking the time to answer.
So in essence, there's not a huge amount to choose from?

Not really. You could choose to invest it yourself with some arrangements, depending on your ability as an investor that might or might not be worth it. Personally I do not, I just put a fair whack in my pension every month. Again, the real key is the tax relief, which realistically unless you earn over a 100k a year (its more than that but can't remember the exact amount) you get on up to 40k's worth of contributions

[Wellsy]

Note: I worked in pensiMost private personal pensions will give you a similar service; a spread of pretty typical investments that as you go towards a particular retirement age which you tell them, will move you to less volatile funds in order to aid in retirement planning.

Maybe help me with a question? I have a few pensions of varying sizes (from 12 years at one company down to 1 year with another) and keep seeing talk about the benefits of consolidating them. I did the exercise with a pension planner and they went on about the benefits, but the fees for taking the money out of some was ridiculous and seemed that wherever I put it it would need to perform pretty well pretty soon to fill up that hole. Is it really worth it?

There's absolutely no point transferring a DC pension if they levy a charge, which if they do they're pretty unprofessional imo. Reputable providers will not. If you consolidate those it is occasionally said that you'll get a better annuity rate if you have a bigger pot from one source; this seems baseless and potentially not legal to me. You can also buy an annuity with a provider from multiple pots. So unless one pension pot is performing ridiculously well, probs not worth it

DB pensions, it may (may) be worth it, but either way if the DB pension is worth 30k or more (not per annum, the total transfer value) you'll need evidence of independent financial advice anyway and they will charge for that. If they're DB; probably not worth it imo. Especially if there are charges.

Most services that advertise the transfer will make considerably more money from it than you will.

[steveri]

Chris, I've done similar recently and consolidated 4 policies into 1 SIPP. It sticks a bit seeing the fees - but I changed in Jan and it's already grown more than the fees cost. Motivation for me was a simpler life with fewer pots to look at.

One thing to watch out for is any terminal bonus that would be lost by transfer. It gave me a bit of reassurance when my SIPP guy pointed this out and we left those alone. I didn't pay for the advice - family benefit from the same people the NHS use my wife has been talking to, but they made a chunk out of fees.

[tk421a]

I'd suggest spending a small amount of time and working out what you'd like to invest in rather than paying for a managed fund. The savings on fees are quite considerable.

If you want a starting point, https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/v/vanguard-ftse-all-world-ucits-etf-usd-acc
All world equity reduces risk / volatility in any country / sector. If the world goes up then it goes up. General recommendations might be to move away from equity (shares) when you get closer to retirement age.

Also, look at certain SIPP providers who will pay cashback if you transfer in. Promotions vary.

[SA Chris]

which if they do they're pretty unprofessional imo.

They are all pretty reputable providers; Standard Life, Aegon etc and they all have a fairly significant fee.

[stone]

If anyone is thinking of avoiding the fees and using trackers (sensible as far as I could see), then I thought this a useful site for explaining what type of trackers will likely provide what  https://portfoliocharts.com/

[tk421a]

which if they do they're pretty unprofessional imo.

Are you sure those fees are for transferring not withdrawing?

They are all pretty reputable providers; Standard Life, Aegon etc and they all have a fairly significant fee.

[SA Chris]

Well, maybe that's where I am getting bum guidance. The advisor I had at the time recommended putting it all in an investment platform (AJ Bell), so I guess that would have meant withdrawing, not transferring, which may be why the fees seemed so bad. I was put off by this at the time, and didn't look any further, maybe I should.

Also expect the advice given wasn't completely impartial.....

[tk421a]

For what it's worth, my SIPP is with AJBell.
Their fees were the lowest I found at the time, and the transfer from Royal London and Aviva was straightforward.
Annually the fees for holding my pension is £120, and then there's a dealing charge per time buying shares / funds (£5), which I generally do once a year.

[SA Chris]

Good to know, thanks.

Or I just wait for a month until I'm 55, then it all changes.

And there are some changes to regulations on the 4th April.