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Combine your pensions
Having all your old pensions together could make it easier to plan for your retirement and could save you money on fees.
Benefits of combining your pensions
If you’ve changed jobs several times in your life, you may have one or more pensions you no longer pay into. This could make it harder to know what you’ve saved, leaving you unsure about your retirement or what you should do next.
The benefits of combining your old pensions include:
- Easier to manage – Fewer pensions mean it’s easier to top up and easier to keep track of your retirement savings.
- Less admin – There’s less paperwork to worry about, and fewer pension providers to talk to when you need help.
- A clearer outlook – Get a better understanding of your retirement savings.
- One pension provider – Dealing with one provider rather than many could make things easier when you come to access your pension.
Which type of pension is right for you?
Ready-Made Pension
- We do the hard work and invest for you through our partners, Scottish Widows.
- Track your transfer’s progress in Online Banking or the Mobile Banking app.
- Usually, transfers only take a few weeks to complete.
Self-Invested Personal Pension
- Choose and manage your own investments.
- Transfer pensions from as little as £1 in value.
- Transfer pensions invested as they are – subject to stocks being accepted.
Need help with finding lost pensions?
There's an estimated £31.1 billion in lost or forgotten pension pots*.
If you can’t find your old pensions, you could miss out on money you’ve already saved towards your retirement.
- Speak with your old employers or pension providers for help with tracing your old pensions.
- You can also go to The Pension Tracing Service, which is operated by the Department for Work and Pensions.
*Source – National Pension Tracing Day.
Frequently asked questions
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This is where you transfer all your old pensions into one single pot. Transfer, combine, consolidate – they all mean the same thing. Once you know which pension you want to transfer your other pensions into, you can find out more about the transfer process to get started.
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No, when or how many of your old pensions you transfer is entirely up to you. Although you may need to check if there are any minimum values for transfers (our RMP account transfers must be an initial value of £1000 and our SIPP transfers can be from as little as £1). Remember, you can transfer more pensions to us at any time in the future as your employment changes.
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You can’t transfer every type of pension, including pensions already in drawdown.
We can’t accept:
Pensions with guarantees
This is a pension with a Guaranteed Annuity Rate. It means you could get a higher income than you’d get at today’s rates when you retire.
Guaranteed Minimum Pension or Section 9(2B) rights
These are types of pensions that promise you a certain amount of income when you retire. If you transfer your pension, you’re not likely to match this amount. Please check with your current provider, as they should have more details on this.
Guaranteed Conversion Option
This allows you to convert your pension into a fund, giving you more flexible benefits. However, at today’s rates, it’s unlikely that this fund will be worth as much as your original pension.
Pensions with defined benefits
Also known as final salary benefits, these pensions give you a guaranteed income based on your salary, not on your contributions. Your current provider should have more details on this.
Workplace pension
A pension that you and an employer still pay into.
Other reasons you can’t transfer:
Your pension may be with a provider outside of the UK. It could be subject to a pension sharing or earmarking order following a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. Or it has been, or will be, set up using disqualifying pension credits. This is when the pension sharing order is applied to a pension already in payment or income drawdown.
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- You may lose out on special features that might be valuable to you upon transferring. These may include a protected tax-free lump sum, a protected pension age, life insurance, or critical illness cover. Check if you have any special features with your current provider before you transfer.
- Exit and transfer fees may apply with your existing pension provider.
- Costs vary between pension providers so it’s important to familiarise yourself with these differences. Your current pension provider may charge you for other services.
If you have any doubts about transferring your pensions, you could seek advice from a suitably qualified professional adviser. There will normally be a charge for that advice. Unbiased will let you find a local adviser based on your requirements.
You can also get free and impartial guidance from the government’s Pension Wise service, which is provided by Money Helper.
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Here are some questions that you should consider asking your current provider before transferring.
- Ask if there are any charges for withdrawing your money before the agreed pension age, like Exit Penalties or Market-Value Adjustments (MVA).
- Check with your current provider if you’ll lose any benefits by withdrawing. These could be guaranteed annuity rate, the ability to take more than 25% of your fund tax-free, or a pension for your spouse after your death.
- Find out from your current provider if you can transfer your investments as they are or if they’ll need to be sold and transferred as cash.
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Our Pension charges are clear and transparent, helping you understand what you expect to pay.
We won’t charge you to transfer your pension to us, but your current providers may charge you for transferring out. Please check with them before you transfer.
For a full breakdown of costs see the Fees and Charges for RMP, or our Charges page for share dealing products including SIPP.
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One of the benefits of investing into a pension is tax relief. If the basic rate of tax is 20%, for every £80 you pay in, the government will top this up with an extra £20.
If you’ve told us you’re eligible, we’ll add basic rate tax relief automatically to any regular or one-off contributions you make into your Ready-Made Pension or SIPP account. If you’re a higher rate taxpayer, you can claim additional tax relief through your self-assessment tax return.
How much you can pay in without a tax charge will depend on your circumstances.
You can normally pay up to £60,000 (the Annual Allowance) into your pensions each tax year without paying a tax charge (or up to 100% of your taxable yearly income if less).
If you’re not working and don’t have any income, you can still pay in £3,600 each tax year (you pay in £2,880, with £720 tax relief).
If you’re a high earner, a lower limit could apply known as Tapered Annual Allowance. See further information at www.gov.uk.
If you’ve started to take money out of your existing pensions, the amount you can pay into a new pension and still get tax relief on may reduce significantly. This limit, known as the ‘Money Purchase Annual Allowance’, is currently £10,000 a year.
Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances. Your circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.
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If you would like financial advice, you could speak to an Independent Financial Adviser. Unbiased and Vouchedfor will let you find a local adviser based on your requirements. There will be a charge for this service. You get free help and guidance through Pension Wise. If you’re over 50, you’ll also benefit from a free 60-minute appointment.
Alternatively, our partners Schroders Personal Wealth could also help. They provide personalised advice on a range of different products and services. It all starts with a free, no obligation chat, then a financial plan that’s tailored to you. To be eligible, you’ll need to have at least £100,000 in sole or joint savings, investments or personal pensions, or sole income of at least £100,000. Fees and charges may apply.
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