pension query re changes of employment

I have worked in two different companies in ireland over the past 20 years- the first was a french multinational and I believe I had a pension with them but may have been based in France. They closed down and I then moved to an irish multinational where I worked for about 7/8 years and paid into a different pension fund. I have the details of that pension fund. I then left this company and returned to college and have now been offered a job with the civil service.

Is there a way of tying the penions together or have I lost the entitlements from the first two pensions?

Do I need to see a private pension advisor?

In general, you have not lost your pension entitlements from your two jobs.

you need to get details of the pension fund held for you in both pensions and then decide what to with them.

You can leave them as two separate small pension funds until retirement or transfer the value of them to another pension fund.

You will need to get more information on both before deciding which to do.

Transferring them will probably cost you a fee but this might be better value that paying the annual fee for the next 20 years or so until retirement age.

First things first

Find out who administers the pensions and ask for a statement of your pension fund.

I am not sure how you can find out who the first one is administered by. You could contact their HQ in France and ask HR or you could ring the big pension admin firms in Ireland and ask if they are the administrator for the firm you used to work for.
Do you have any documentation from when you left that might have some info ?

Thanks for replying huskerdu-yes I have details from the irish company about the pension fund and I can write to them. I don't have anything from the French company but I still have some friends who work in that company in France ( they just closed the Irish factories) so I can try to find out through them.

If I find out, am I better off getting independent pension advice on whether to transfer the funds or leave them?

Let's assume that you get details of your two funds. In respect of either or both of these funds, you have the following choices: -

(1) Leave them where they are and collect your benefits from the schemes at retirement.

(2) Transfer them into a Buy Out Bond or PRSA (subject to certain conditions) of your own choosing. Doing this severs your ties with the original schemes and puts you in control of how the funds are invested.

(3) Transfer the funds into the Civil Service pension scheme to buy back years. (The CS scheme may or may not allow this.)

(4) If you are over 50 you could draw your retirement benefits from either or both of the existing schemes.

It's important to note that there are pros and cons relating to each of the above options. No one option is best for all people.

If you are going to seek professional advice about these options, make sure the advisor goes through the relative merits of all the above options with you.

Thanks Liam, that's very clear. I will contact my friends and find out about the French pension and then talk to a broker.