Changing times

Thanks for the good wishes everyone, much appreciated. Contract now in hand too, so I'm in need of some pension advice if anyone knows someone that's a bit clued up on this please shout. They offer a non contributory stake holder pension, but I have a small pension from RAF and Police days, so not sure how it works :confused:
 
Sixpence said:
Thanks for the good wishes everyone, much appreciated. Contract now in hand too, so I'm in need of some pension advice if anyone knows someone that's a bit clued up on this please shout. They offer a non contributory stake holder pension, but I have a small pension from RAF and Police days, so not sure how it works :confused:
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No reason why you can't join this employer's pension scheme, nevertheless. Your new employer is effectively saying "Let us give you some extra money"; so it's rude to turn them down :).

Depending how "small" your police and RAF pensions may be, you might also want to investigate making Additional Voluntary Contributions into your new employer's scheme (which will qualify for tax relief), to boost your pension.

I shouldn't really be saying any of this, as I'm not an IFA, but what the Hell....
 
jhr said:
I shouldn't really be saying any of this, as I'm not an IFA, but what the Hell....
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You know me well enough to know I don't care a hoot about IFA requirements :D

Not sure if it would be possible to combine the two, so something like add the pension I already have to the one on offer, if you see what I mean
 
Not sure if it would be possible to combine the two, so something like add the pension I already have to the one on offer, if you see what I mean
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Might be tricky. Your existing pensions will quite likely be contracted-out of SERPS/SSP (please don't ask me what this means - you'll regret it :)) which means they will be incompatible with a stakeholder plan, which will almost certainly be a Group Personal Pension arrangement and hence contracted-in.

However, in my view there's a lot to be said for having your pension arrangements in several different "baskets" - as anyone who gave all their retirement savings to Equitable Life will tell you.

It's just possible, given that they are Public Sector pension schemes, that you'll be able to use your stakeholder fund to buy extra pension in either the Police or RAF schemes when you come to retire; it might be worth writing to the Administrators of both schemes, to find out if that's a possibility. This may not give you the maximum amount of pension per pound, however, so you should also see what your fund will buy on the Open Market, at the time you retire. There are several ways of doing this and, if your new employer's scheme is halfway decent, they should provide access to some kind of market comparison service when you take your pension.

All imvho
 
Anyone who attempts to get you to sign your Public Pension rights into a private Stake holder pension needs punching hard.
We got a substantial award back for Lynn as an IFA had sold her a private pension with dreams of avarice and riches by taking it out of the NHS scheme. Oops. The FSCS took 18 months to put this right for us.

So, see if they are offering to match you in contributions plus their bit too and go to that amount. Check out the AVCs terms, and also whether you control what funds they will be held in.
Check the providers performance rating on a site like iii.co.uk, and also check all the individual available funds in their portfolio - they may have slipped big time on one fund, and performed average on the others.
put a bit of effort into this.
You won't increase your payout much, but it will keep you out of the pub for a while.

Pensions are still not really good value as the annuities are still so poxy.
You might also want to check to see if either of your public pensions will take AVCs or if they are closed to you. If they are, then I suggest you do that, as 'Honest' Gordon Brown is backing them. Likely they will have contracted out the AVCs portion to someone like Standard Life - again check which provider and do the search etc etc.


Blimey, he is thinking of retiring already, and he ain't even started yet. :p
 
Sixpence said:
They offer a non contributory stake holder pension, but I have a small pension from RAF and Police days, so not sure how it works :confused:
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Some comments above seem to have misread what you say. If a company does not have their own pension scheme then they must offer employees the opportunity to pay into a stakeholder pension. This is just a private policy in the employees name. Premiums payable by you are deducted from salary each month by the employer and paid over to an insurance company. If you leave the policy goes with you and you can keep paying in.

It may also be that they will contribute to the stakeholder pension too. So is this non-contributory by them or by you? Are they stating the percentage that they will pay? I don't think there is enough information given here to make this clear or for advice to be given.

I think that time spent with an IFA would be valuable. He will know what is being offered and the best thing to be done with your existing pensions.
 
Anyone who attempts to get you to sign your Public Pension rights into a private Stake holder pension needs punching hard.
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Just to make clear, in case there's any misconception, I absolutely was not recommending this. Only a lunatic would think this a good idea, and I agree with your prescription for their treatment. :)

As Mr Tanner is no longer employed by the Old Bill or the Crabs, I doubt he'll be able to contribute to their pension or AVC schemes but there's no harm in asking......
 
Thanks guys, been busy trawling through old paperwork trying to figure out what to do, still no idea of exactly what they are offering so I think it's best I wait until I know before making any decisions
 
Thanks George, and don't worry, she's already been dropping hints in her usual style. Pointing out items of jewelry which she likes, and making sure I know she likes them
Good to see you again today, forgot to remind you that Neil should be arranging something for the winter in this area so keep an eye open
Oh, and some git decided to change the way Sixpence was moored. Warps were hanging in the water when I got to her, so I'll check on yours when down there in case they do it to yours too
 
Very local as it happens, door to door in ten to fifteen minutes and one of the few companies in the area that's expanding. Just bought out a major London company too, only real downside is time off as they only shut down on Xmas day. Twenty four seven other than that. One week of day shift done, night shift next week, then they increase from four twelve hour shifts to six per week in a few weeks. My feet have been knackered after the past few days, never done so much walking
 
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