- Pension consolidation benefits: Combining pensions reduces admin, could lower charges, offers more investment choices, simplifies management, and provides more retirement options
- How to consolidate: If you have all your old pension details, you can start immediately. AJ Bell also offers a service to help find lost pensions
- Considerations: Check for exit penalties, loss of benefits, employer contributions, and defined benefit pensions before consolidating
Have you ever considered combining your pensions? Having pensions scattered around can make it hard to get a full picture of your retirement savings. Putting your pensions in one place can help.
What is pension consolidation?
Consolidating or combining pensions is the process of moving the pension pots you’ve built over your working life to one place. Watch our video from pensions expert Charlene Young to find out all the details.
Charlene Young, Senior Pension and Savings Expert at AJ Bell, discusses the benefits of consolidating your pension, and what you need to consider when transferring a pension.
[00:00 - What is pension consolidation?]
If you’ve moved job a few times, you’ll probably have built up pensions in a few places. Consolidating your pensions in one place – such as in a Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) – can make it a lot easier to see what pension savings you have. It can also mean a whole lot less paperwork.
[00:25 - Should I consolidate my pensions?]
There could be good reasons to consolidate into a SIPP, such as reduced costs, greater investment choice and more flexibility in how you can take your pension. It can also give you more choice about who you can leave funds to on your death.
[00:45 - Pension consolidation and transfers checklist]
But before transferring pensions to SIPP, there are a few important things you need to think about.
First of all, will your existing pension scheme charge you an exit penalty or make a market-value adjustment to your fund? This could mean you lose money if you transfer it.
Second, if you transfer your pension to SIPP, will you lose any valuable benefits or features? Do you have a guaranteed annuity rate, for example, or the ability to take more than 25% of your fund tax-free? These benefits are usually lost when you transfer, so you need to be careful.
Third, does your employer contribute to your current pension scheme and if so, are they willing to pay into a SIPP, or would you lose these valuable contributions?
[01:25 - Defined benefit pension schemes]
Generally, you're probably better off not transferring to a SIPP if you're a member of a defined benefit or final salary scheme where your income in retirement is guaranteed for the rest of your life, and possibly for the life of your spouse after you die. If you do want to find out if transferring from such a scheme is worthwhile, you'll have to take advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser if your transfer value is more than £30,000. Otherwise, the scheme trustees won't allow you to transfer out. You can't transfer out of most public sector schemes, such as the NHS, teachers or civil service pension schemes.
[02:00 - Pension consolidation options]
If you transfer your pensions into a SIPP, you’ll be responsible for your own investment decisions, so you need to be comfortable doing this. If you know the investments you want to make, you should check whether you can access them via your existing pension, as you may not need to transfer.
If you sell your investments to transfer cash, you will be out of the market, and you could lose out if values go up. To avoid this problem, it’s possible to transfer assets from your old pension into your SIPP without selling them.
Finally, whatever type of scheme you have, you should compare the costs of your existing pension to the costs of the SIPP.
You can find other important things to know and consider before consolidating your pension on the AJ Bell website. You can consolidate your pension with AJ Bell and use our pension finding service to find your lost pensions.
Should I combine my pensions?
Some of the advantages of transferring pensions into one pot, like a Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) or Ready-made pension, include:
Less admin and paperwork
One pension account means fewer statements and paperwork to deal with, and only one online log in.
Potentially lower charges
If you combine your pensions into a plan that offers better value, you can end up paying far less in charges over time – meaning you’ll keep more of any investment returns.
Investment choice to suit you
A SIPP usually has a far greater investment choice than other types of pension, if you’d like to choose and manage your own pension investments yourself. With a Ready-made pension, you can choose from three AJ Bell funds, all managed by our in-house experts.
Easier management
Your retirement savings will all be in one place, making it easier to check your pension and investment strategy is on track. With a Ready-made pension, any money paid in (including eligible pensions you find) will be automatically invested for you, into your chosen AJ Bell fund.
More options at retirement
A SIPP offers greater choice about how you can access your pot at retirement than other pension types. But keep in mind that our Ready-made pension is designed for people building up their savings, not those at or near to retirement.
How do I consolidate my pensions?
Before you can consolidate your pensions, the first thing to consider is whether you know where all your pensions pots are.
Combining pensions when you have all your old pension details
If you have all your old pension details, you can get started straight away.
I don’t have a pension with AJ Bell
Opening a SIPP or Ready-made pension with us only takes around 10 mins.
During your application, you'll be asked for details of the pensions you would like to transfer. Once we have those details, we'll contact your current pension provider(s) to get the transfer started.
I already have an AJ Bell pension
If you already have an AJ Bell SIPP or Ready-made pension, transferring your other pensions is easy.
You can enter the details of all the pensions you want to transfer to AJ Bell in the ‘Transfers’ section of your account.
Combining lost pensions
Given that the average person changes jobs 11 times, that's a lot of different pensions to keep track of. If you're not sure where all your old pensions are, you're not alone. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies in 2025, as much as £30 billion is sleeping in lost or forgotten UK pensions.
It's why more and more people are trying to find their lost pensions. And it’s why we've launched a service that does all that for you, for free: the AJ Bell Pension finder.
To get access to the service, you'll need to open an AJ Bell account first. If you already have an account, you can log in and get started.
If you'd prefer to find your pension details yourself, the government’s free Pension Tracing Service may be able to help.
When should I combine my pensions?
You can consolidate pension pots whenever you like. But there are times when it may make more sense – such as if you’ve changed jobs, if you’re thinking about the timing of your retirement plans or what you’ll want from your pensions in the future.
Before you start combining pensions, you should check that your existing pensions don’t have any valuable guarantees or benefits you’d lose if you moved them.
Pension consolidation checklist
Before you move a pension, it's important to make sure you won't lose money, or any valuable benefits by doing so.
Here’s what you should check with your current provider:
Will you be charged an exit penalty or face a market-value adjustment (MVA)?
Will you lose any valuable benefits? Examples include a guaranteed annuity rate, the right to take more than 25% of your fund tax free, or a pension paid to your spouse when you die.
Does your employer pay into your existing pension, and if so, will they pay into a SIPP or Ready-made pension?
Do you have a defined benefit (also known as ‘final salary’) pension, which guarantees a lifelong retirement income? If so, you’re probably better off not moving. If the transfer value is £30,000 or more, you’ll need to get financial advice. To transfer a defined benefit pension to AJ Bell, both you and your adviser need to complete a declaration form.
Should I sell my pension investments before combining pensions?
Remember that if you do decide to combine all of your pensions, how you transfer them is important. Selling your investments first and transferring your pension as cash means you’ll be out of the market and could lose out on potential gains.
You can transfer investments to an AJ Bell SIPP directly, without selling them first, as long as your current investments are available on our platform. With a Ready-made pension, the assets will be sold so that they can be invested in your chosen AJ Bell fund.
If you’re still unsure about what to do with multiple pensions, you should seek professional financial advice. Alternatively, you could look at the resources offered by the free government-backed service, MoneyHelper.
Hear from AJ Bell's pension consolidation experts
Pension consolidation FAQs
How long does a pension transfer take?
How long your transfer takes depends on which type of pension account you’re moving over – for example, are you transferring cash or investments? It also depends on your current provider, and whether you have any outstanding fees or exit fees to pay them.
Read more detail on how long pension transfers take.
How does AJ Bell’s pension finding service work?
The process usually takes 4 to 6 weeks, but response times can vary for different pension providers.
Find out more about our free pension finding service.
Get your money working for you
Learn more about pensions
We cover the long and short of investing in pensions, and how you could make yours stretch further.
Our pension hub
Ready to plan for your retirement with a pension account? You’ve come to the right place.
Track down any lost pensions
Our free pension finder service is available to AJ Bell customers and helps you find lost workplace pensions.
Important information: These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice. Pension rules apply, and may change in the future. By making the Ready-made pension and AJ Bell funds available to you, we’re not making a personal recommendation. Before you transfer a pension, check with your current provider that you won't lose any money or valuable benefits.