# Serps advice



## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Just done a little housekeeping on pensions I have-transferring a couple of old ones to my main work one now. Nothing massive but saves on several statements etc to sort each Yr.
Also got a SERPS statement I get from the Prudential each yr. This was done back in the dark ages of approx 1987ish when I'd just started working and the man from the Pru used to come round regularly to sort my parents financial stuff out!
Anyone any advice, info on what it means? Google just brings up mis sold stuff about it. Not sure whether I leave it, can I transfer it etc?


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## K777mk2 (Jun 30, 2016)

SERPS was the states pension scheme, which when paying NI you were entitled to when you retire, based on your earnings over your employment, and assuming you continued to pay NI. 
Often you were told (read advised) to opt out, which meant the payment in your NI for the state pension was then repaid into your private pension with the Pru.
I am no expert ( even as an employer ) but I started work in the same period, and opted out on my first pension with NU - and thats how I understood it.

Hopefully someone with a more financial planning background can give you better info.


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

If you are in a company scheme see if the company can provide access to a financial adviser who knows about this stuff.

Many years ago I opted out of SERPS but there was something about being automatically put back into the scheme after so many years.

As it happens I have paid the full amount possible in years in NI and will get the full amount of state pension when I get to 66.

The only thing I will say is if the Pru account is dormant then it is possibly not getting a lot of attention to get the best return. This is where an adviser can can give you the proper advise as to what you should do.

Everyone's situation is different.


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## Juke_Fan (Jul 12, 2014)

Not sure how old you are mate but if you are over 50 you can get a free hour with Pensionwise pensionwise.gov.uk

Also you can check what your state pension forecast is via gov.uk to see what the impact of opting out of Serps is.


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Juke_Fan said:


> Not sure how old you are mate but if you are over 50 you can get a free hour with Pensionwise pensionwise.gov.uk
> 
> Also you can check what your state pension forecast is via gov.uk to see what the impact of opting out of Serps is.


51,thanks I'll take a look at that.


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## notfub (May 9, 2007)

Darlofan said:


> .....transferring a couple of old ones to my main work one....


I've done this BUT transferred 2 old pensions into a new SIPP. The main reason being that the cost to run the SIPP was far lower than the cost of the work pension. I'm not saying you should do that, just wanted to flag the associated pension running costs, as even a 0.5% difference can eat into *your money* over the years.


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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

notfub said:


> I've done this BUT transferred 2 old pensions into a new SIPP. The main reason being that the cost to run the SIPP was far lower than the cost of the work pension. I'm not saying you should do that, just wanted to flag the associated pension running costs, as even a 0.5% difference can eat into *your money* over the years.


Im about to change jobs and the new workplace pension is different to the one i currently have. I took the free pension "advice" - and that was the single biggest thing they said. You can control the annual and fund charges, and use that as part of the decision. Harder to determine is the respective performance of the pensions.

Other bit was not to touch the final salary pension.

I was also contracted out of SERPS a long time back, but on a previous job switch it amalgamated back into a single personal pension. Did have the misfortune of being with equitable life.

Looking on the HMRC website, I would be £10.56 a week better of if i hadnt!


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## SadlyDistracted (Jan 18, 2013)

SERPS was the State Earning Related Pension Scheeme, which was /is addittional to the State / NI related Pension scheeme.
State Pension requires years of NI contributions, SERPS is aditional , the key bit being Earnings Related, which the state pension is not (just on years of paying NI - which do not even have to be fullyears). If you opted out of SERPS, effectively employers NI contributions were taken/diverted and put in to a Private pension fund at zero cost to the employee (other than loosing SERPS), for a 'personal pension', hich you could have also made additional personal contributions to with all the benefits of being grossed up tax wise, note you still get State Pension.

As to whether its now worth it can depend on any things, how much it's worth. if it was only done for a few years / is not worth much, it may be worth cashing in and proceeds used to 'buy' NI 'years' if you'll not max out the number of years of NI contributions to get teh Maximum State pension, which iirc needs 35 or 40 years worth of NI contribution and can be checked on line, and any more than that you do not get any more State pension, and this can be checked on teh gov websites

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/eligibility

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/your-national-insurance-record-and-your-state-pension

If this isn't simple in your speciffic case then best to get some advice on it.

Hope that helps.


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