Group Scheme Pension Question

guile4582

I called up Aviva in Uk today to let them know of a change of address.
I used to live in UK and have a small sum in a pension there with them

On the phone (got throught to personal pensions first) the woman advised I call back the Group Schemes number, inform them I am no longer with that company. Make it a personal pension and change address

I don't know enough about pensions, but is it a good or a bad thing that the I am still in the group scheme for the company even though no longer with them?

should i make it a personal pension?

coylemj

Were you an employee of Aviva, or did your pension end up there because that's who your former employer used to manage the pension fund?

Was it a DB or DC pension?

guile4582

it was a DC fund. I worked with a company, Aviva were the provider/ I put in 3% they put in 7%

I left the company and the UK about 4 years ago and just left it there as it was sterling.

It has grown a little year on year.

Was simply going to provide them a new address..but got flashbacks to when I rang AIB to do the same and they realised I wasnt supposed to be on the student account anymore!
Don't want to repeat that mistake

Merowig

Am not sure how it is in the UK but here you can usually remain in your employers occupational scheme even after leaving the company. The company often continues to cover the admin costs.

I wouldn't see a reason now to change or convert your pension fund.

NUTLEY BOY

I would be bit uneasy and uncertain about the initial advice to convert your pension in to a personal one.

The idea of converting to a personal pension may have a number of hidden hazards and unintended consequences following changes that they made in the UK in recent years to pensions laws.

Do not change to a personal pension unless and until you have consulted a properly qualified UK independent financial adviser who can explain the potential dangers and benefits.

coylemj

guile4582 wrote: »

Was simply going to provide them a new address..but got flashbacks to when I rang AIB to do the same and they realised I wasnt supposed to be on the student account anymore!
Don't want to repeat that mistake

The way sterling is these days, you'd be mad to move the money back here in Euros, leave it there. Aviva will happily hang onto the money, they get some % management fees each year, probably less than if you put it in a small PRSA back here and as Merowig said above, the employer often covers the charges so being part of a larger pension scheme means that you usually get charged much less than if it was a personal fund.

Make sure that it's in a managed fund with good exposure to equity (shares) so that it will grow over the years, a conservatively managed fund would not be appropriate, given that you won't be able to access the money for several years.

Mrs OBumble

OP, we cannot tell you what you must or should do, because we don't have details of your pension scheme and its contractual requirements.

If the details of the group scheme say that you have to leave when you leave the company, then this should have been handled at the time. If it wasn't due to administrative oversight, then you may have a problem that needs to get sorted out now - and ignoring it might make things worse.

On the other hand, if you are allowed to stay in the group scheme, then it may be better for you (though not necessarily Aviva!) if you leave well enough alone, and just set up a separate private pension with some other provider.

Only a professional UK pensions advisor, who allow to see the paperwork associated with the group scheme pension, can give you proper advice here.

It is common for people to retire with pensions from multiple places. But it can cause some to get confused, and because of this some companies recommend consolidating them.