What to do with multiple pensions

L

LonseaLM

Registered User
Messages
31
I'm 30 and have a pension with Irish Life from my previous job with €60k in it. I also have a Zurich pension with my current job with €12.5k in it. I'm maxing out my AVC each year.

What is the best course of action for my Irish Life pension? Should I combine it to Zurich as well? The Irish Life management charge is lower 0.65% v ~0.8%.
 
There are several issues to consider in thinking about whether or not to amalgamate pension funds. I summarised them here.
 
Probably not as once you combine an old pension with a current one, the old one becomes subject to the rules of the current one.

So, for example, you lose the ability to access it at age 50 unless you leave your current role.
 
LDFerguson said:
There are several issues to consider in thinking about whether or not to amalgamate pension funds. I summarised them here.
Click to expand...
From the blog post;
My current pension has a clawback period of 2 years for employer contributions. Does this mean if I transfer my old pension into this scheme I will have over 2 years service and therefore could leave before 2 years and keep employer contributions? Seems a bit too good to be true
 

Yes it means exactly that. Your new scheme is not obliged to accept a transfer from an older scheme so they can avoid that if they want. Most schemes accept transfers.
 
I think that @LDFerguson has covered the issues in the linked thread, but there are sometimes advantages in having multiple different pensions - e.g. flexibility in terms of retiring different pension pots at different times rather than it being a one time only decision.
 
It sounds like at this point it makes sense to combine the pensions to protect my new employer contributions. As there is a chance I'll leave before the clawback period is over.

Plus I know I'l have other pensions in the future, and will likely set up a directors one soon too.
 
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