If you’ve had more than one job, you may have more than one pension pot. Bringing all those pots together can help you understand your financial situation. But pension consolidation has other benefits too – if you choose a low-cost provider, you could improve your financial position in retirement.
Moving to a different employer is usually a big change so it’s no wonder that many of us overlook what to do with the pension pot from the job we are leaving.
Research suggests the average Briton will have six different jobs during their working life – and some studies suggest even more than that – so there are potentially a lot of left-behind pension pots out there.
This situation could become increasingly common since, under auto-enrolment, employers must offer all eligible workers in the UK a workplace pension.
Why should I consolidate my pension pots?
The first reason should be obvious – so you don’t forget and then neglect to claim it. In the UK, there are an estimated 1.6 million unclaimed pension pots worth nearly £20 billion1. That’s money that could be helping to fund people’s retirement but is sitting idle because pension providers can’t find the people it belongs to.
Don’t be part of this statistic. This is your money – you earned it. And you’ll probably need it to supplement your state pension, which is only meant to cover necessities.
Pension consolidation as a part of financial planning
Even if you’re confident you won’t forget an old pension pot, consolidation can be helpful. In making a financial plan, you’ll need to answer questions, such as “When can I afford to retire?” and “How much should I contribute to my retirement fund between now and then?”
You can’t answer these questions without having a clear view of what you have. Of course, you could contact all your providers to get data on the value of each pension pot and put this together in a spreadsheet, but consolidating your pensions makes this process so much easier.
Pension consolidation might cut your fees and boost your wealth
Perhaps the most compelling reason to consolidate is that you might be able to get a better deal, for instance by reducing the charges you pay your provider. In many workplaces, you are not given an option about which pension provider to use, and your options may be limited concerning your fee or investment style.
But if you consolidate your pots with a provider of your choice, you get to decide all of that. Do you want your pension managed in a socially responsible way? Do you want to pay a lower fee? (That matters because fees have a big impact on the final value of your pot.)
Remember, it’s your money. It’s up to you who manages it – and how much you pay them for the service.
How Nutmeg can help with your pension consolidation
You might have guessed where we’re going with this. Nutmeg pensions are designed to give you transparency over how your money is invested, control over how much risk you take, and are cost-efficient, because we know that fees can add up over time to diminish the value of your pension pot.
If you set up a pension with Nutmeg, you get to choose from three different investment styles:
- Fixed allocation: Designed to perform without intervention, these portfolios are reviewed once a year by our investment team to make sure they’re right for you. Great for long-term pension investing at a low cost.
- Fully managed: These portfolios are proactively managed on a daily basis by the investment team, who adjust your portfolio to react to political and market events. Great if you want experts to take a hands-on approach with your pension investments.
- Socially responsible: Also proactively managed on a daily basis by our investment team, these portfolios invest ethically by tilting the investment towards companies and issuers that score highly on a measure of environmental, social and governance factors. Great if you want your pension to align with your values.
How to consolidate your pension pots with Nutmeg
If you don’t yet have a Nutmeg personal pension, you can set one up today. If you have one and would like to consolidate your pensions, the next step would be to track down any lost pension pots.
Once you’ve found all your pots, transferring them to Nutmeg is easy. We do all the hard work for you. Click on “start a pension transfer” and follow the instructions – but please note we can’t transfer every kind of pension and you may be better off staying with your existing pension provider in some cases.
If you want advice about whether to consolidate your pensions, we can help with that too. Contact our advice team today.
Sources
Risk warning
As with all investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your portfolio with Nutmeg can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. A pension may not be right for everyone and tax rules may change in the future. If you are unsure if a pension is right for you, please seek financial advice.
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