Works pension - leaving job

[Dixie68]

I pay into a pension at my current job and my employer matches whatever I pay in. I'm due to start working for another company soon who have their own pension scheme where they match what I would put in plus a little bit more.
When I leave my current job can I get the money from my original pension as cash so I can pay it straight into my new pension? I know it'll be written in the small-print of the form but I can't find it.

Also, I have a military pension for 15-years service, this starts to pay out to me at age 60 - does anyone know if I can get a pension in my civilian life to pay into/top up the military pension? I suspect no, but someone may know different.

[Dixie68]

Obviously the title should be WORKS pension... I'm not a cook in a Chinese restaurant!

[LC23]

It really is a case of checking the rules of both schemes. They may allow the funds to be transferred, but you won't actually get a payout directly to you for you to then pay into the new pension scheme. Some schemes don't allow transfers so once you leave, the funds sit there until they pay out at retirement.

[RichB]

haworthlloyd1 said:

you can't have it out as cash but you can transfer it to your new pension - may or may not be a wise thing to do.

I'm in a similar situation so rather than start a new thread thought I'd extend this one... Over the years I've accumulated a number of small amounts in various pension funds due to having changed jobs a number of times I have been advised that it's best just to leave these as they are but administratively (and for my peace of mind) I'd rather see them all consolidated into one pension. What are the pros and cons of doing this and how can I find out if I'd lose out financially? I'd not do it to make more money but rather to simply tidy them up into one place.

[grumbledoak]

There are normally 'administrative' fees for taking money out early, or putting it into the next, or both. The best approach could depend heavily on your exact terms. Probably one for professional advice...

[RichB]

Thanks for the advice, I guess changing jobs will be the catalyst for this!

[bogwoppit]

You should be able to transfer without an admin charge, I expect, so it's likely just a case of which will perform better and whether it's better to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.

This is assuming that it's a defined contribution pension, where the value of your pension pot is clearly defined. This applies to the OP. If it is a defined benefit (final salary) pension it may be a different story because the "transfer value" is calculated by actuaries employed by the scheme administrator. The transfer value they came out with for the final salary scheme I was a member of was insultingly low, there was no "admin fee" but the scheme would clearly benefit and I would clearly lose if I were to transfer out. Any scheme I transferred to would have needed record-breaking performance for anything else to be the case.

As for being able to top up the military pension, I can't say. I doubt it would be possible to "buy service" using this method, so if it is possible at all it will likely be no better than any other scheme.