SPEN555

I was made redundant in October and now I have received a letter saying I have one month to either cash it in £1,300 or transfer it to another scheme £4k.

I don't want to cash it in as I will lose £3k.

Due to being out of work I do not have another scheme to put it into.

Are there schemes available which allow me to quickly set up and transfer it into?

I was looking at SIPPs but it looks like this is new and does not come into effect while the end of February 2006 which is too late for me.

Also don't want to be going from some do gooder 'IFA' taking their slice.

TIA.

SPEN555

BTTT.

BrynO

Without an IFA though you'll not have any guidance on the 'better' ones to look at for your situation unless you do the research yourself..

Do you not have the option just to leave the funds where they are? I have 3 pensions sitting with previous employers which I chose not to transfer (although I know it may depend on the nature of the scheme, you time in it blah).

For what it's worth when my wife left work my IFA advised us to stick her funds into a M&S scheme, as good as any he said and the transfer was quick and easy.. seems to have performed ok..

Robert Rosario

[quote=SPEN555

Also don't want to be going from some do gooder 'IFA' taking their slice.

TIA.[/quote]

So you want help, but don't want to pay for advice from a person trained in such matters?

Good luck, you might just need it.

budgie55

Is the scheme being wound up or something... sounds odd that they have only given you the option to cash in or transfer it?

Some IFAs may not actually take cash off you for advice they may make their fee from an annual commission from the company you end up putting your money with (if thats what u decide)... either way they have to provide you with a thing called a menu now days which sets out and explains how their fees work..... usually either you pay a charge up front or they receive an annual commission from the provider or something similar.. you have nothing to lose either way, if you dont like the fees walk out... dont sign anything if you dont want to.

Failing the above Moneysaving expert website has a pensions forum with many people with good knowledge on the board offering help for free. Some are even in the industry... they wont give you proper advice over a chat board so to speak but may give you a pointer in the right direction.... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.html?f=19 <<< linkage

Hope that helps.

Allan

budgie55

you may also want to try The Pensions Advisory Service which afaik is free

http://www.opas.org.uk/

Allan

SPEN555

Thanks for pointers guys.

What's an M&S scheme?

To answer some questions above, I had only paid into the scheme for probably just short of 2 years, the company I worked for was disposed of by the group and so no longer entitled to contribute to the scheme. I guess in the small print I do not have an option to leave it there due to be in it less than 2 years.

My other pension schemes from previous employers have allowed me to leave it within their scheme but I have had 3+ years on contributions.