Today we’re going to look at combining or consolidating pensions - a big subject which we’ll try to do some justice…

Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB10

What You Need To Know

02:15 Why transfer?

04:47 How the process works.

07:47 Things to watch out for.

14:39 About Defined Benefit transfers.

Everything You Need To Do

26:44 Get up to date with your existing plans.

Pension Transfer Checklist (PDF)

28:27 Decide if there’s any reason to leave the pension where it is.

29:44 Request the transfer.

31:07 Chase to completion.

35:07 Podcast Review.

In this episode, we want to look at the financial advice process, and give you the helpful basics that you need to think about if you are considering getting professional financial advice.

Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/HB9

What You Need To Know

02:24 Advice vs planning - Advice is product-led, Planning is outcome-led.

08:11 The Financial Planning process.

08:50 Establish and define the relationship.

11:50 Collect client information to have context for advice.

15:04 Analyse and assess the current position.

16:45 Develop the plan and make recommendations.

22:32 Implementation.

23:33 Ongoing review.

28:05 Costs and value.

35:00 Qualifications and designations.

What You Need To Know

39:03 Begin with the end in mind.

41:30 Contact several advisers.

45:47 Get costs and scope in writing.

48:25 Be prepared to be vulnerable.

53:50 Podcast Review

It's time for another listener Q&A! This time we cover paying off student loans, old pensions, alternative to pensions and ISAs and much more.

Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA2

00:40 Sophie - My question is that I am about to start earning a lot more than I thought I was as a graduate. I have always been told to ignore my student loans by my parents as it's essentially a tax, but looking at some calculators I would pay it all off in 25 years before it gets cleared and pay more than double the £45,600 in interest. I'm thinking of trying to overpay it off more quickly than that as it seems very big to have especially with 7.3% interest rate. I'm not sure if I should prioritize this, as I could start now, but as I'm starting work I'm still very uncertain of what to save and how I should treat this debt. Or should I not worry about it this early on?

06:55 Ellie - My partner recently traced a pension from an old employer. When he contacted the company they told him the pension was all paid out to him when he left the company, 9 years ago. He was 28 at the time. Is that possible? I believed it wasn't possible to access pensions until 10 years before state pension age. The exceptions I'm aware of (certain types of job/illness) aren't relevant here. I can't believe this pension would have had particularly special properties. It was while he was working for Experian. He doesn't remember receiving a lump sum, and is checking with his bank (it's too far back to see online). Did the person he spoke to just make a mistake? He is reluctant to go back to them without anything concrete, and it is hard to trust what they say. Any advice on what to do next?

12:15 Joanne - I am a higher rate tax payer and contribute to a SIPP on top of my employer pension (very generous DB scheme) to keep my earnings underneath £100k so that I can benefit from free childcare hours and about the 60% tax trap bracket between £100-£125k. However, I am now breaching the annual £60k pension allowance and so end up paying significant tax on the additional pension contributions in my self assessment. I am so aware that this is a privileged position to be in and want to contribute my fair share of tax but I wondered what other channels I should be exploring to be as tax efficient as possible please (I have never dabbled in VCTs!)

18:44 James - How do I weigh up the relative value of AVC on my DB pension rather than investing in a LISA or S&S ISA where I retain my capital?

22:25 Giles - I have fallen into the 60% tax trap on a number of occasions, to mitigate this I have tried to top up my pension to get my earnings below 100k to reduce my tax bill. Being the main earner and with 2 very expensive teenagers I don’t have enough spare cash to do this easily so have taken the money out of a S+S ISA in the past. I know this shifts the balance of my assets massively into pensions but it seems worth it to reduce tax. My question being is this a reasonable plan? Is it a good idea to do this or am I better keeping retirement options more flexible with a larger ISA pot?