Pension planning for the self-employed

Transferring your pension

You may be thinking about transferring your pension, perhaps because some of the new pensions available are offering attractive benefits.

Before you do so, take a close look at the penalties of getting out of your existing scheme. Ask your pension provider for a transfer value to find out how much you stand to lose. You may decide that even with the penalties incurred, it is still worth transferring to the new scheme. Make sure you have compared the different products as closely as possible, particularly projections of final income. Note that there is no cooling off period if you transfer a pension, so it's vital to get it right. There is no charge for transferring a stakeholder pension.

Starting an additional pension scheme
If the transfer penalties are too heavy, you may be able to start up a new pension scheme in addition to your existing one. Check whether you can reduce payments to your existing pension and pay more into the new scheme instead. There may be charges for doing this.

The consequences of transferring your pension are significant, so you might like to get professional advice. The Pensions Advisory Service helpline can give you information and guidance on Tel 0845 601 2923.

Find out how to complain or resolve a dispute with a financial organisation at the Financial Ombudsman website.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Assessing your pension needs
• How a personal pension works
• The basic State Pension
• Stakeholder pension
• The difference between a stakeholder pension plan and a personal pension plan
• Other pension products
• Other tax-efficient savings
• Transferring your pension
• Keeping track of your pension

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