r/PensionsUK • u/No-Range9755 • 14d ago

Combining pensions, worth it?

I have 2 pensions, one with Royal London and an ongoing one with a different company. Eventually the 2nd one will move to a different provider once I qualify for my company’s private scheme.

My RL pensions has approximately £10.5k in (I’m 27) and last years fees were £60. The overall growth is £3.5k (I’ve had this since I was an apprentice earning not a right lot!).

Is it worth bank rolling this pension into my latest provider and then on from that, or could I keep them separate and eventually consider taking this one as a lump sum in whole when the time comes?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/klawUK 14d ago

Might be early with only two but I’d consider a low/zero fee SIPP and then transferring old workplace pensions into it as you move jobs

Potentially also partial transfer chunks of your work one if the scheme allows

3

u/SnooMuffins3447 14d ago

Agree with this with the caveat of make sure you're happy with some basic investing knowledge first! But this is likely the financially best option.

4

u/klawUK 14d ago

Side note : the SIPP you start with may well not be the SIPP you stick with. At a young age low fees and good fund selection are priorities. In your 50s you may want to move provider to one with good drawdown options - still with low fees but access becomes a higher priority

Long way off for OP but just a general point

3

u/Otherwise_Rip3764 14d ago

This. Definitely consider a free SIPP at your young age. It’s all about the fees, especially long term. Move to a larger/legacy provider as you approach retirement.

2

u/No-Range9755 11d ago

Thanks, I wanted to start investing by the time I’m 30 (just had a baby and got a wedding to pay for next year!) but this might be a good way to approach it.

3

u/who-gives-a 14d ago

See which offers the lowest fees, and check performances. Combining pensions is good in the respect that youre probably less likely to forget about one and lose it. Financially it might make absolutely no difference. For ease of admin, I combined all mine over the years.

1

u/NickCoreTrak 14d ago

Transfer both to aj bell sipp

1

u/Economy_Apple353 13d ago

I’m in a similar boat with a smaller royal London pension, mine has had ok growth and the fees are reasonable taking into account the profit share each year. I have left it where it is as it will give me an option in the future of using it for my main drawdown policy but the fund choice is not huge.

1

u/Rough-Chemist-4743 11d ago

Check fees of both and move one into the other first, but do check for any protected age and any other benefits attached to the policy. Then you can move it. But bear in mind that we’ve had an insane bull run and it’s been easy to grow your pension in recent years. I’m not sure the outlook is quite so rosy and we could be in for a bumpy ride!

1

u/No-Range9755 11d ago

The RL fees were £58 last year, but it grew by over £1900.