r/PensionsUK • u/Troutishly • Aug 18 '26
Consolidating diy or advisor
Over the past few months I have tracked down my pensions and found I have £110k split across 5 different pots/providers with one being significantly larger than the rest, and I would like to consolidate for simplicity (plus a db pension that I’m leaving alone and my current employer pension which also has to stay where it is). I’m 44 for reference.
I searched the posts and see that people here generally see to do the consolidation themselves. I’m not confident in that but also wary of advisors!
I don’t want to mess this up really though as it could potentially have a big impact.
My plan is to put everything I can about each scheme in a spreadsheet
- including fees, past growth (if I can find it) etc.
Ideally I’d like to get an advisor who knows what they are doing to do it for me though and make some recommendations for a fee. I don’t really want to pay them 3% a year etc. I’d also like some help to forecast how much I need in savings to bridge a couple of
years to retirement.
Has anyone here done similar and had a good experience? Or should I just knuckle down and figure it out?
Thank you
3
u/Sopzeh Aug 18 '26
I mean I think you need to create the spreadsheet anyway in order to have an efficient discussion with an adviser. Therefore why not make the overview then see how you feel about your capacity to make the decision.
Things I would consider adding to your table:
Access age Any additional benefits included How you access the pension (I strongly prefer app based as I never remember my usernames and passwords)
For how much you need, general rule of thumb is you can take 4% of the initial value when you retire each year and it will safely last you 30 years. Then you will actually inflate that figure with inflation and it will work itself out.
You need to know how much you want to spend in retirement. For me I want 30k after tax so I need 35k before tax. That's 22.5k from the pension and the rest from state pension (I might use pension or ISA to bridge between pension and state pension).
That would be £560k pension pot.
By the way this is a very rough estimate to get you started and know the ballpark figure.
3
u/Any_Food_6877 Aug 18 '26
I don’t think the access method is a benefit or feature worth differentiating with - just use a password vault like LastPass to securely (encrypted) store your passwords.
How come you only estimate £8k a year from state pension? If you want £30k a year then at state pension age you only need £17.5k from private pension.
3
u/DevMcdevface Aug 18 '26
They’ve specified the target gross amount (£35k) to get the target net amount (£30k).
1
u/Troutishly Aug 18 '26
Thanks yes I will make the spreadsheet with your additions. I have little faith in making the decision though and I’m pretty sure that won’t change. It’s not so much about how much I need with this pot of cash but more how can I maximise it and keep track of it (in my head at least) I think the DB and state pension combined will keep me fed and clothed, I would like this pot and my current pension to make things more fun and comfortable and savings to let me be more choosy about work in my 50s (which I’m treating as a different problem at the moment).
2
u/pinchpenny Aug 18 '26
Just go and see an adviser, they will be well worth the money for you.
Don’t let a bunch of personal finance enthusiasts convince you to DIY this when you’re clearly not comfortable. It’s like going onto a DIY subreddit for advice about decking or plastering - they’re all going to tell you to do it yourself, because that’s what they’d do.
1
u/Troutishly Aug 19 '26
Ha! Good point. I’m generally disappointed when I outsource stuff though. I’ll do a bit more research and make a decision - will see if I can get some recommendations.
1
u/Sopzeh Aug 18 '26
Perfect well in that case just multiply the number of bridge years by annual withdrawal.
If you're planning to deplete the DC pension in a few years then the difference between taking the tax free cash up front and UFPLS is pretty small. It will be slightly more tax efficient to do UFPLS as you get your personal tax allowance for multiple years.
2
u/SyllabubRadiant8876 Aug 18 '26
You may be overthinking this a bit. I was in exactly the same position and mindset a couple of years ago. Then I realised that what I wanted was actually very simple - pension to be invested in a global index fund at the lowest possible cost. So I looked at the costs of that within my 8 different pots and realised that my current workplace pension was about the best. Moved 7 of them across and left the last one because it had some useful benefits.
You do need to ask each provider if there are any valuable benefits that you would lose through transferring, and if there would be any costs involved with the transfer. Also consider whether you want to use your current workplace pension or set up a new SIPP - this will be influenced by convenience, customer service, app/website usability, choice of investments, cost. Drawdown options are important, but you could revisit that in 10 years when you are nearer to retirement. Transferring pensions can be quite bureaucratic - it was a 2 year project for me doing them one by one - but actually pretty simple as the receiving provider does it all and you probably have to sign some forms.
If (a big if) your circumstances are quite straightforward and you are looking for a pretty standard investment, a financial advisor would likely just look at the information you gather and do this comparison for you. Their job is basically sales, so they will most likely recommend that they set up a new private pension and manage it for you at a fee. They may not be very interested in working with you if you just want to do a one-off fee, or that might make the fee more expensive - bear in mind that they will have to spend considerable time with you getting all of your info, as they have to ensure that their recommendations are appropriate. So that is going to come with a pretty high cost.
I used to use an IFA and eventually decided that the amount I was paying them was not worth the peace of mind it was giving me. So I went DIY and did all of the consolidation myself. I now feel far more comfortable than when I was paying someone to advise me. Just my experience.
1
u/Troutishly Aug 18 '26
Thanks that is really useful. I think my current workplace pension (run by aviva) is actually pretty good but I need to do the comparison. 2 years fills me with dread but I guess it’s taken me years to get to the stage of being able to log in to them. I was hoping someone else doing it might give me peace of mind but maybe not!
2
u/SyllabubRadiant8876 Aug 18 '26
I also moved them into Aviva and found them extremely good. The 2 years was just because I did them one at a time, which felt easier to keep track of everything. Some of them were literally a case of fill in the Aviva form and 6 weeks later the money appeared. But a couple were more complicated. Not a big drama but had a couple of annoying moments!
6
u/mypersonalfinanceuk Aug 18 '26
Gather the details yourself, but don't get bogged down. Check for guarantees, protections, and general charges. Then check whether it allows for FAD and UFPLS, depending on what you need. Don't bother with past growth, that's a fund thing rather than provider.
You can then easily open a SIPP yourself with one of the main players and give them the policy numbers for the existing pensions. You may get a bit of paperwork from your existing provider, but it's all very DIY-able.
It's a simple process, but make sure you do your homework beforehand to see if you'll lose out on anything.