Pension
Income
Investor

Move your pension money to your chosen platform

This isn’t quite as simple as writing to the firms involved and requesting a transfer. Accordingly, expect the process to take time, perhaps some weeks, and plan appropriately.

You will need to have the account at your new firm set up. The old providers are likely to check that you know what you are doing, so they may ask if you have taken advice or to certify that you are aware of the risks involved in managing your investments.

Firms will normally require written instructions in the post.

Once all these requests have been sent, you should monitor progress and chase any firms that drag their heels.

When all your old pension schemes have acted on your requests, check that every penny has arrived at your new platform. Remember that the process can be slow. Do the same with any ISA switches, which tend to be much quicker.

If you did deliberately leave some money in an old pension scheme or schemes, perhaps to await a fee amnesty on a specific date in the future, or because you are waiting for a with-profits policy to mature, make a diary note of the date concerned or send instructions in advance, then check that the firm takes the action you requested at the right time.

And that’s it – you are now ready to start managing your own pension savings in order to generate the retirement income you need. Step 3 explains how. 

<< Return to: Step 1: where is my pension money?