Pension pot from prior employer

Hi there,

I worked with a UK company for about 6 years and accrued money to put into a pension fund which I never did.

Now having left them I will be soon given a cheque for that amount to put into a fund. However I would rather not for various reasons.

What would my options be? Could I put it into a fund then cash out? Obviously keeping the charges/commisions to a minimum would be key here.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Henry Ford III

Early retirement is possible from age 50 onwards.

p.s. If they give you an untaxed cheque made payable to yourself you may face a bit of a dilemma however.

coylemj

Henry Ford III wrote: »

p.s. If they give you an untaxed cheque made payable to yourself you may face a bit of a dilemma however.

Unlikely surely if the money was accrued tax-free? Can't see HMRC allowing the employer to hand the gross amount over to the employee.

The J Stands for Jay

Deleted User wrote: »

Hi there,

I worked with a UK company for about 6 years and accrued money to put into a pension fund which I never did.

Now having left them I will be soon given a cheque for that amount to put into a fund. However I would rather not for various reasons.

What would my options be? Could I put it into a fund then cash out? Obviously keeping the charges/commisions to a minimum would be key here.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Are you saying that the employer meant to pay into a pension for you, never got round to it and is now giving you the cheque that would have been sent to a pension provider?

McGaggs

McGaggs wrote: »

Are you saying that the employer meant to pay into a pension for you, never got round to it and is now giving you the cheque that would have been sent to a pension provider?

Not exactly, they unfortunately will not be making the cheque out to me! They are looking to pay the lump into a pension fund of some sort

coylemj

Deleted User wrote: »

Not exactly, they unfortunately will not be making the cheque out to me! They are looking to pay the lump into a pension fund of some sort

That's what I expected. Are now in a job with a pension scheme - presumably a defined contribution (DC) scheme? If so, they will probably allow you to transfer that money in. Otherwise you'd probably be looking at setting up a PRSA and moving the money into that.

coylemj

coylemj wrote: »

That's what I expected. Are now in a job with a pension scheme - presumably a defined contribution (DC) scheme? If so, they will probably allow you to transfer that money in. Otherwise you'd probably be looking at setting up a PRSA and moving the money into that.

Have a civil service pension now, though its single scheme so rules are not yet written to allow me to use the € to purchase service there.

coylemj

Deleted User wrote: »

Have a civil service pension now, though its single scheme so rules are not yet written to allow me to use the € to purchase service there.

Is there an AVC option in your current position? If there is, it may be possible to sign up and lodge that money. Difficult to see what you can do otherwise.

coylemj

coylemj wrote: »

...Otherwise you'd probably be looking at setting up a PRSA and moving the money into that.

Deleted User wrote: »

Have a civil service pension now, though its single scheme so rules are not yet written to allow me to use the € to purchase service there.

I would go with a PRSA that's self managed, low annual fee.
Consider it a form of diversification as you have the civil service pension.

Think about your willingness to risk, go with low cost ETFs (such as Vanguard and iShares). Not too bad a time to invest a lump sum as many EFTs are back to where they were this time 2 years ago.

6 years of pension money managed correctly would be a nice wedge in 20/30 years

Just to add if you go that route I'd avoid investing in US and UK focussed ETFs given the current weakness of the € that doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.

I'm all for diversifying into non home currency options but not when the exchange rate is so unfavourable, a swing in € strength in 10/15 years could wipe out much of the natural growth so I'd stick with € only funds, at a stretch maybe entire world options but not UK or US focussed ones.

Henry Ford III

Deleted User wrote: »

Have a civil service pension now, though its single scheme so rules are not yet written to allow me to use the € to purchase service there.

If the price is right buying added years is the way to go.

Get proper advice on this and pay for it. A mistake could be horrendously expensive.

The J Stands for Jay

If your UK employer is going to make a pension contribution, it will probably have to go into a UK pension before you can transfer it to Ireland.