Should I transfer my Pension?

There will be instances when you may want to leave a pension scheme that you have set up — you may have a change of employment, for instance, or decide to either opt out or stop making contributions. Fortunately, the majority of schemes will allow you to transfer your pension pot to another pension scheme. If you have found yourself asking ‘should I transfer my pension’ though, we’re on hand to explain your options.

You’ve switched employers

Get a new job at a different company and you’ll be deemed to have left the workplace pension scheme of your previous employer. While this does not mean that you will lose the benefits accrued in the pension while working at your last job, you may wish to transfer your current pension pot to the scheme that’s been provided by your new employer.

Just make sure you’re letting your head rule over your heart when going through with a switch. You shouldn’t be rushing into transferring out of a first-rate pension scheme only because you want to sever all ties with your previous place of employment — make sure the financial benefits stack up.

You’ve got multiple pension schemes open

Whether it’s because you’ve moved jobs a few times during your career or have signed up to various pension schemes which have looked appealing over the years, there is a chance you’ll have accumulated several small pension pots throughout your lifetime.

The issue with having multiple pensions is that it can prove difficult to keep track of the various schemes and understand just how much money you have saved and is available once you retire.

Because of this, it could make sense to give your finances a tidy up and consolidate as many of your pensions into just the one pot.

You feel as though your current scheme is underperforming

This one is quite a simple to understand — you may be looking to transfer your pension because you feel as though the scheme you’re currently involved in is underperforming. Perhaps it’s delivering poor returns, for instance, or even non-existent returns.

If this is the case, it’ll be no surprise to hear that you’re eager to move your money elsewhere. Just take the time to think about where you might invest to hopefully get a better return.

You’ve seen that another pension scheme provides better benefits

There will be some pension schemes which offer better benefits than others, triggering you to look into a pension transfer once you spot them.

Perhaps you’ve came across a scheme that doesn’t include punitive charges that end up eating into your returns and thus leaves you with less cash once you retire. Maybe there’s also a scheme that allows you to access a wider selection of funds than the one that you’re currently a part of, or which allows one of your relatives to inherit your pension when you die instead of only spouses and dependents.

Ready to make a pension transfer? It’s free to transfer a pension to us and we’ll only need around ten minutes of your time for you to provide us with the details we require — we’ll then do all the work for you to complete the switch.