Good morning 👋

I sat down with someone recently who's mid 50s, just started a new job with a good salary, but keen to talk about when they could stop working.

Which, ideally, is in the next few years.

So, as usual, we started going through what they'd actually got.

A workplace pension from the new job. A couple of older workplace pensions from previous employers. A personal pension they'd set up years ago. A defined benefit scheme from a job in education.

And one pension with a ‘guaranteed annuity rate’, which they didn't know they had (or even what it meant) until we looked.

Six pensions. Five different providers. Lots of bits of paper. And no clear picture of how any of it fitted together.

This isn't unusual, by the way. It's pretty standard. If you've had a career that's lasted 25 or 30 years, you've probably picked up three, four, five pensions along the way.

So you end up with a collection rather than a plan.

The questions this person had are the same ones I hear almost every week.

Is there enough for me to stop working in a couple of years?

You can't answer that by looking at one pension statement. You need the full picture.

All of them, plus any other savings and investments, plus a realistic idea of what you'll actually spend when you stop working (which is often the most difficult question to answer).

None of it is complicated but we do need to look at it all to get started.

Should I consolidate everything into one pot?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It depends on what you've got. Some older pensions have valuable benefits attached to them that you'd lose if you moved them.

That guaranteed annuity rate I mentioned? It could be worth a lot of money so might be better left where it is for now.

A defined benefit scheme is usually best staying where it is too.

But a collection of old personal pensions with high charges sitting in funds you might or might not have chosen fifteen years ago and haven't looked at since?

There's often a strong case for bringing those together. Simpler to manage, easier to see where you stand, and often cheaper.

The point is, you can't decide without knowing exactly what each one does and what you'd be giving up by moving it.

Which is why the "just consolidate everything" advice you see online makes me nervous. It's not always right.

Am I in the right investments?

Typically, in this situation people don’t know what they’re invested in. They probably ticked a box that said "balanced" or "moderate risk," and haven't thought about it since.

That's fine. Most people do exactly that. But what was right for you at 35 might not be right at 55 or 60. Your timeline is different. What you need the money to do is different. And "balanced" means different things on different platforms.

So it's worth checking. Not every year. But definitely before you start relying on it.

Where do I actually start?

Just make a list. Don’t overcomplicate it, a spreadsheet is just fine.

Put everything financial in one place. Pensions, ISAs, savings accounts, any old investments, protection policies, a note of your will if you've got one.

Write down the provider, roughly how much is in it, and when you last looked at it. That's it. You'd be amazed how many people have never done this.

And once you can see everything on one page, the next step usually becomes obvious.

You might not need any help at all. You might have a lot more than you thought you did.

Or you might look at your list and think "I've got questions I can't answer on my own," which is a pretty normal response.

And it’s a good reason to get in touch…

Have a great week 😎

🖼️👇

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