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I am developing a proliferation of pensions. Does any easy service exist to monitor them all and perhaps consider bringing them together? Maybe some sort of open banking type thing?
You can bring some together, and one of your pension providers can do that. Or you could leave then and spread the risk. Or you could pay a IFA to sort it.
I just emailed the reference etc to my current work pension people, they did the rest.. took a couple of weeks and then all showing in my current work pension.
Check each pension for exit charges, if it has bonuses, guarantees, enhanced benefits etc etc, and also how well it has performed compared to the market over say the last 1,3,5,10 years (*remembering to take any management fees and charges into account)
Also google equitable life and the phrase don’t put all your eggs in the same basket
You can generally transfer from a to b (b can be a brand new fund with a brand new supplier or an existing pension. )
I wouldn't consolidate mine as both companies were subsequently taken over and additional rights accrued. I had no idea till recently, ones got a 5 year min payment so if I die 5 years worth of benefits are paid out, another on takeover got an uplift in value.
Go ask on https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/pensions-annuities-retirement-planning
Expect the first question for "proliferation of pensions" on the lines of are these DB (defined benefit, e.g. final salary), or DC (defined contribution), or a mix, who the providers are etc.
Consolidating just DC is possible - reducing fees always good but you might prefer some provider-diversification to protect against e.g. IT outages
> how well it has performed compared to the market
For DC, there is a separation between the provider and the funds. The provider has a platform fee, but it is the fund choice that drives most the gain/loss. So cheap provider and crap fund does not mean you need to move provider (assuming the provider does offer better funds and not restricting you with crap/expensive funds).
I arranged a transfer of one this week, took a few minutes and was done in days. Reducing fees is helpful if you have many you are paying multiple managers to look after them for you.
A friend paid a financial advisor, so I borrowed the same advice 😉
Keep a record of them all and come retirement your pension provider will be able to consolidate them all into one pot.
If you think you have pensions you have lost the details to try https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details