Pension Help..Buying extra years

[P739]

To put you in the picture i have a private pension which has been frozen since i started with Royal Mail....Speaking to a IFA he said i should look to move my private pension to Royal Mails (buy extra years)..The question is has anyone did this and was there any pitfalls...thanks in advance

[banddy]

i'm not sure that you can do this now.

i know you could have done this a few years ago, but i'm sure they put a time limit on it, and the dateline was approx 5 years back.

the truth is, i don't actually know, but i think you may be too late.

[arnold cheshire]

i dont think id bother buying extra years i wish i hadnt paid anything into it and i love to get out of the pension

[POSTMAN]

Will move this to the pension forum.

Now i done this when i 1st joined(15 years) but my previous pension was better then RM's so the years i bought in by transferring it in was worth it.
Are some peeps saying that transferring in from another pension is not allowed now?

Also have you thought of AVC's.

[RobertT]

As of 2008 and the change to the career average scheme, you can no longer buy extra years, although if you were already buying them, then you were allowed to continue.

AVC's via Bonusplan or Flexiplan are an option but there's not a huge difference between them and a private pension, although with Bonusplan(only for section C) you get an extra contribution off RM up to a max of £150 per year and management charges may be less. But the choice of funds is laughable compared to the 'open market'.

You can get more info here:
http://royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/37/key-issues" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[heapsy]

Might I add something to this . When you pay in to a company pension, such as RM you also buy a widows or widowers pension with it. This may not be suitable, say, if you were single/divorced. I would check with an advisor to see what they think. Sometimes it might pay to have something seperate for your company scheme, just in case things go wrong, or your retirement is earlier than you thought it woul be. Remember, the default retirement age in RM is now 65. All depends on your intensions, your age, and how many years you already have in the RM scheme. If things go wrong, and the scheme is wound up, you may have put money in to a scheme which you may not be able to access until 65.

[oldnick]

As of 2008 and the change to the career average scheme, you can no longer buy extra years, although if you were already buying them, then you were allowed to continue.

AVC's via Bonusplan or Flexiplan are an option but there's not a huge difference between them and a private pension, although with Bonusplan(only for section C) you get an extra contribution off RM up to a max of £150 per year and management charges may be less. But the choice of funds is laughable compared to the 'open market'.

You can get more info here:
http://royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/37/key-issues" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Correct, no transfers in to RMPP after 2008. Flexiplan/Bonusplan benefit from rather lower 'management charges' from your fund than and external AVC arrangement.