The job for life for many of us is a thing of the past and most of us will join and leave different companies during our careers.
The consequence of this is that it is likely that you would have built up pensions from different companies. The impact of having several different pensions is that they are difficult to keep a track of and therefore can be lost if you do not update the pension providers with your current details.
One of the ways that you can simplify your retirement planning is to consolidate them into one pension. Before making this decision however, it is prudent to seek independent financial advice before transferring your benefits to another provider.
Some older pensions include special guarantees that will be lost if you transfer them to another provider. The Financial Adviser will write to your existing providers on your behalf and will ask them specific questions around any benefits that will be lost if they are transferred to another provider.
Consolidation is generally not the only reason why you should consider transferring your benefits into one plan. Other reasons could include the cost of the existing pension compared to the alternative pension, whether the fund/s match your attitude to risk, fund choice available, your options when accessing the pension for example.