Should I transfer my previous private pensions into my civil service pension?

Hi, I recently started working for the civil service and am wondering whether I should transfer my previous private pensions (one I paid into for 11 years, one for 1 year) into my civil service pension? Thanks

Hello Laura,

Yes, you can transfer your old private pensions to the civil service scheme but it won't guarantee to provide you with a higher income in retirement. The Civil Service pension is a defined benefit pension which will provide a guaranteed income to you in retirement for the rest of your life (and to your spouse/civil partner on your death if applicable). It will also increase each year in line with inflation. For many people, this is a very attractive benefit.

This also takes away the need for you to make decisions on how your pension is invested and keep it under review.

Combining your pensions also helps provide financial clarity and reduce your administration.

However, depending upon your age, time to retirement and willingness to take investment risk with your pensions, by keeping your private pensions separate they could grow sufficiently over time to provide a higher annual income.

They also offer more flexibility on how and when you access the pension and what happens to any residual fund on death; under the current rules private pensions can be passed to anyone you wish and then potentially onto future generations.

You can find more about transferring your pensions to the Civil Service here: https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/joining-the-pension-scheme/transfer-an-old-pension-into-your-civil-service-pension/. I also believe that, as a member, you have access to various calculators to help you model contributions on their website.

I hope this helps.

Andrew