Have pension fund — can I add to it?

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dodo

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I have a pension fund from a previous job where I worked for over 10years, It has grown nicely and is still in the fund with the old employer,My boss has agreed to give me 4% towards my pension but says that he will set up a new one for me. I asked him can he not give it to me through my wages and I can add it myself to my exisitng fund, he said as far as he knows this cant be done, is he right the ould xxxxxx
 
Re: Have pension fund can I add to it

I am afraid the ould xxxxxx is correct!

Your employer can only contribute to a pension fund that is underwritten by that same employer - your previous arrangement would have been underwritten by your previous employer.
 
Contributing to your old pension fund is not a necessity no matter how it has performed to date. Choose another one with low charges and a suitable selection of funds and get your employer to contribute to that.
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

Capitalcc, the current pension fund I have with old job ,I was told by old job that I can no longer add to it because it is still in their chosen fund.But they did say I can transfer that to another fund outside of the one they have, and that would mean I could add to it, so then could I get boss to transfer money there instead, thanks
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

Yea dodo that is what you should do, then you can still get the benefit of your employer contributing to your pension for you...it is usually tidier (but not necessary) to transfer your old pension to the new arrangement (I gather this is what you're going to do).

Good luck with it!
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

CapitalCCC said:
it is usually tidier (but not necessary) to transfer your old pension to the new arrangement (I gather this is what you're going to do).
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You might not want to merge pension if by doing so you would pay higher charges than keeping them separate (at the cost of a little bit of admin hassle). For example transferring a pension fund subject to 0.5% annual management fee into one with a 1% management fee doesn't make sense unless there is some tangible benefit attributable to the higher charges.
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

That is why I used the word "usually".

Obviously if it is going to cost money it might not make sense.

But then again time is money - and while it would appear that you are extremely money conscious ClubMan, I would prefer to pay an extra 0.5% if it would save me time and hassle, because I would like to use my own time more productively than chasing my tail to tidy a plethora of pension products all the time.

But then again - you would obviously prefer to save the money and spend more time on it, like I said, that is why I used the word "usually".
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

Just clarifying matters and giving my opinion. I trust that the original poster may find some value in my comments. No need to get snotty/personal (again!). :rolleyes:
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

I was also just giving my opinion - people who know the price of everything often know the value of nothing, and I think it demeans the webite when the only advice repeated over and over again is "CHEAPER is BETTER".
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

CapitalCCC said:
I think it demeans the webite when the only advice repeated over and over again is "CHEAPER is BETTER".
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Read my post(s) - that is not an accurate reflection of what I said above and many other times. If you want to rant about things take it to LOS. If you insist on breaching the posting guidelines you will be banned (for the second time).
people who know the price of everything often know the value of nothing
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And people who don't know the price of things often claim that they are being ripped off when they find out. As I have said many, many, many times before - all things being equal (in particular stuff like customer service, fund selection, administrative burden etc.) lower charges are indeed better because the result in less erosion of gains. I have never, ever said that cheaper is necessarily and of itself better.
 
Hi CapitalCCC,

Can you explain how it would take less of his time to transfer his old pension fund to a new fund than to leave it where it is?

Even ignoring that, surely an annual 0.5% difference in performance would be quite significant over time?

Confused,
MugsGame
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

Difficult to answer your question in one post mug, there are so many reasons.
  1. When you leave a company then that pension scheme is paid-up, the consultant to that company's pension normally does not care about you because they are paid by the company that you have left, and that company probably does not care about you now that you have left.
  2. Benefits statements (with up to date fund values etc) are sent to members that are still in a scheme, they are not sent to members that have "paid-up" benefits in a scheme.
  3. When calculating max contributions that can be made to a pension (by the company that you work for) the total accrued pension needs to be taken into account - these type of actuarial calculations would be more speedy for the individual if s/he had accuarate record at all times of pension entitlement - not easily done with scattered approach (reasons outlined above).
There are even more reasons too - but they are mostly variations on the themes above.

I hope this helps.
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

CapitalCCC said:
When you leave a company then that pension scheme is paid-up, the consultant to that company's pension normally does not care about you because they are paid by the company that you have left, and that company probably does not care about you now that you have left.
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You can always deal directly with the underwriting company or transfer to a buy out bond (assuming the charges are competitive, fund selection is suitable etc. etc.).
Benefits statements (with up to date fund values etc) are sent to members that are still in a scheme, they are not sent to members that have "paid-up" benefits in a scheme.
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Benefit statements/valuations can be requested any time and, these days, often by email or online.
When calculating max contributions that can be made to a pension (by the comapny that you work for) the total accrued pension needs to be taken into account - these type of actuarial calculations would be more speedy for the individual if s/he had accuarate record at all times of pension entitlement - not easily done with scattered approach (reasons outlined above).
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Surely this is academic for all but the highest paid employees/directors?
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

  • Transfer to buy-out bond is a very poor choice if now in a company arrangement
  • Dealing directly is disaster - hours spent on phone to fresh-faced college kids/summer employees
  • More time spent online looking for details etc (exactly as I said)
  • Not true at all, it is very important to have this info
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

CapitalCCC said:
  • Transfer to buy-out bond is a very poor choice if now in a company arrangement
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Why?
  • Dealing directly is disaster - hours spent on phone to fresh-faced college kids/summer employees
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Not in my experience - I have several existing pensions and have had no problem getting valuations and other information as and when I required it. Perhaps your vested interest in having people deal through intermediaries such as your own employer is clouding your judgement here?
  • More time spent online looking for details etc (exactly as I said)
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Neither has it taken a significant amount of time. I tend to keep tabs on the pensions very few months and try to do a bit of a review at least annually.
  • Not true at all, it is very important to have this info
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When/why? What are the funding limits? How many people are actually likely to start hitting them?
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

Buy-out bond disaster - if you leave your new company with less than 2 years in new company pension then you lose your right to company money that they put in for you, HOWEVER if you transferred from old pension to new co pension then the service would carry across...this is so useful to make sure you get company money if you leave the new co.

Vested interest - a lot of people that write in financial pages, that put posts here, that I speak to every day find the service provided by insurance companies direct is not good enough for them - I take it from your message that it is good enough for you, that's great for you.

The funding limits are determined by salary, length of company service, retirement age, check the revenue pensions manual if you want to see what the funding limit in your own case is...there is no "one" answer.
Again, I do not have a number of people that are likely to hit them, I doubt anybody can give you "one" number for that.
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

CapitalCCC said:
Buy-out bond disaster - if you leave your new company with less than 2 years in new company pension then you lose your right to company money that they put in for you , HOWEVER if you transferred from old pension to new co pension then the service would carry across...this is so useful to make sure you get company money if you leave the new co.
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Two specific situations in which it may not be a good idea. Hardly a "poor choice" or "disaster" in most or all cases though?
Vested interest - a lot of people that write in financial pages, that put posts here, that I speak to every day find the service provided by insurance companies direct is not good enough for them - I take it from your message that it is good enough for you, that's great for you.
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I am a skeptic. I don't automatically assume that because lots of people say something that it is necessarily true. I certainly don't take the word of somebody who can't explain their argument for themselves.
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

It was just ONE situation - and it is one that most people find themselves in.

The argument is that it is what most people say.
There can be no other "argument".
Dealing with an insurance company is not "per se" a bad thing, how could I possibly argue that it is?
It is only a bad thing, if people consistently comment on it being bad.

The fact that you find it fine does not change the general level of satisfaction.
I think that you think I am writing messages just for you, I was not commenting on how you find it, you find it fine, I am delighted for you.
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

CapitalCCC said:
It was just ONE situation - and it is one that most people find themselves in.
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On what basis do you assume that most people leaving an employment have been members of the company occupational scheme for less than two years or have not previously "transferred in" vesting time from a previous scheme in which case the caveat about buy out bonds is a moot one? BOBs are certainly not a "poor choice" or "disaster" in many situations!
Dealing with an insurance company is not "per se" a bad thing, how could I possibly argue that it is?
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I don't know but you did!
CapitalCCC said:
Dealing directly is disaster - hours spent on phone to fresh-faced college kids/summer employees
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The argument is that it is what most people say.
There can be no other "argument".
Dealing with an insurance company is not "per se" a bad thing, how could I possibly argue that it is?
It is only a bad thing, if people consistently comment on it being bad.

The fact that you find it fine does not change the general level of satisfaction.
I think that you think I am writing messages just for you, I was not commenting on how you find it, you find it fine, I am delighted for you.
Click to expand...
Eh!?! :confused:
 
Re: Have pension fund — can I add to it?

If someone took your advice and did not transfer to the new company scheme, how would they find themselves in the position that they previously transferred in vested service from a previous scheme.

Please get off the fence :)

I did not argue that it was a bad thing, I said the problem with it is that most people find the service poor.

On this basis you said I was using someone else's idea...please expand :?
 
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