Workplace pension to SIPP

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1

Hi,

I am currently 27 years of age and have a workplace pension. I know who this is with and my employer contribute to this pension.

If I transfer this to a FreeTrade SIPP, will my employer still contribute?

I am usually competent at finance but one aspect I find confusing is pensions. I have 2 pension pots at the moment and the benefit of a SIPP is control of where my money is being invested. However, if I transfer and lose my employer contribution then that would be a big loss.

Thanks!

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2

You will need to check with your workplace pension provider if transferring the whole pension will mean closure of the pension. If they say that it will continue to remain open then your employer can continue to contribute to the workplace pension but not to FT’s SIPP.
Alternatively you can check if they can support a partial pension transfer.

I recently made 2 transfers into my SIPP

  1. My old employer pension - full transfer. They have still kept the account open even with £0 balance.
  2. My current workplace pension - partial transfer. Employer continues to contribute into this and I am aiming to transfer ~90% every year. A full transfer would have forced me to leave my current scheme and be put on NEST
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3

Thank you, I will contact my pension provider.

What is NEST if you don’t mind me asking?

Thanks :slight_smile:

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4

National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) is the bog standard default pension scheme which the government has set up. Employers have to contribute a minimum amount into your pension so if you don’t sign up to their enhanced scheme they’ll just put you into NEST

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5

I’d recommend you speak with your employer. Of course any pension can be transferred … it might be a quick affair or a long affair depending on the circumstances. And to be clear most of the time it will involve selling of funds and making a cash transfer.

The issue is not the pension provider. The issue is your employer. If you are employed by company X, it is under no obligation to pay to a pension provider of your choice. There are practicalities involved in all this. One example: say your employer does matching contributions, it is administratively easier for it to pay match to the company pension plan.

Bottom line: speak to your employer. The issue is nothing to do with the pension provider.

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6

FT doesn’t support employer contributions so there would be little point in talking to your employer about contributing to your FT SIPP at this point

7

That may be the case. But given the question and the desire of the OP it makes sense that he understands his employer’s position. The OP will be better informed. There are many platforms that are happy to take employer contributions directly.

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8

I’ve done the same. Partial transfers to keep the workplace pension alive the employer contributing. Although, when I recently changed jobs, I made a full transfer of the previous workplace pension.

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