Pension concern. Is this normal?

Also, am I entitled to know the management charges?

No, the requirement is still under discussion.  An agreement is expected sometime next year.  However a direct request through your employer to the pension provider should elicit the information.  Though I would be surprised if your employer didn't already have the figures to hand.

The valuation methods for pensions seems to be constantly changing.  Increased life expectancy, increased retirement ages, changes to early retirement age, discount rate for valuing equities and bonds, changes in indexation from RPI to CPI the list seems to be endless - so that 'might' account for the delays.

You don't state whether you are enrolled in a defined benefits or money purchase scheme I'm guessing the latter as there 'aint many of the other left.

madasahatter, thank you very much for the fulsome reply.
I should state that I left the employ of this firm in 1995 and do assume that it is a defined benefits scheme as the yearly statements give figures for GMP and what my family might get if I die etc.
It is a contracted out pension and at some point the company started sending out annual valuation statements under law (I have kept only 2010, 2011) .

Right, you are in a defined benefit scheme.  You have not transfered the funds to another scheme, which is fortunate, as that would have been at a disadvantageous MTV(minimum transfer value).

Your 'pot' has been index linked, almost certainly to RPI, though that may have/or going to change to CPI.  I suspect that your guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) could have overtaken  the COD (contracted out deductions), this is because your GMP is probably indexed at 7%.  The other alternative is that it is indexed against average earnings, but that would be unusual.  You can work out what your GMP will be on your NRD (normal retirement date) by compounding your original GMP at 7% for each completed year from when you left the company to when you reach your NRD (providing that your GMP wasn't linked to average earnings!).

If your GMP is going to be higher than your COD at your NRD, this will almost certainly have implications on any annual indexation you might have expected ie. you won't get indexation until COD (which is indexed on retirement) matches your GMP (which is fixed, though some of it could be indexed).

Confused?  Well so is everyone else, including providers legislators and members.

If you are planning on opting for the tax free lump sum that will 'muddy the water' some more.

Your pension provider will almost certainly have a web presence, where you can download information regarding your scheme.  Google 'em up and see what you can find?

madasahatter - thank you so much for taking the time, your help is much appreciated.

A few additional sources of information.

The pension advisory service is free and has a wealth of contributors that can answer specific queries for you.

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

The motley fool has a Pensions Board that have some knowledgable contributors.  Free again, but you will have to register to post.

http://boards.fool.co.uk/managing-your-finances-5008.aspx?bid=50065

Defined benefit schemes have representatives who 'sit' in on trustee meetings or may even be trustees.  They are drawn from present day employees of the business units that have members, or may have been elected by the membership and are often retired members of the scheme.  Your pension provider can supply you with a list of names and contact addresses, you could then contact them directly with queries.

Lastly, you raised the issue of charges.  With defined benefit schemes they tend to be very low or even non-existent (for members), as they may be paid by the holding company outside of the 'pension wrapper'.  There can be 'shadow' charges.  An example being, your pension might buy into a fund, that fund levies an annual charge on that fund's value.  So the holding company may pay the fees of the entity who took the decision to invest in the fund, but the fees charged by the fund manager will fall inside the 'pension wrapper'. 

So the upshot can be, you may not be paying any direct fees for managing the pension fund, but further on down the 'food chain' fees are being charged.  As the vast majority of defined benefit schemes are 'underfunded' the shortfall is met by the holding business, so the cost falls on the current employees, shareholders and owners.

Superb.

Bottom line.
Die before you retire.

"We'll muddle through" on a pension thread, WTF????

ive a works pension from 1980/till i left in 1991, it was then transfereed to pearl and then to standard lifewhere it was up to few months back. the value is around 50,000, but my fin adviser told me to transter it now to axa wealth where it in an elavate acct, and 1/3 of the value is in a high riskinvestment, while the other 2/3 is in cash, and in a  hardly no risk situation re my adviser, .i agreed to this with him, but to be honest im very naive and not sure if ive done the correct thing, just have a feeling i should have stuck with the safe standard life.   if anyone can say axa wealth is ok or any advice appreciated, im hoping to take a lump sum out in 2 years at 55.

You don't state whether you were originally in a defined benefit or defined contribution scheme.  If it was the former why didn't you leave it where it was?

Everytime you move your 'pot' some of the money sticks to somebody's fingers.  This isn't inherently wrong, but there is a lack of transparancy about how much you are paying and to who.  Charges are the scourge of the pension industry with the suspicion that providers and advisores are recommending transfers and switching of funds just to 'earn' themselves commission and not to secure the best returns for their clients.

What to do with your 'pot'? I have no knowledge of your personal circumstances, other provisioning, your knowledge or risk profile but you might want to consider a SIPP (A Self-Invested Personal Pension).

On a general note pension provisioning is a 'mess'.  Workplace pension schemes are often poor value for the contributor and are bottling up disappointment and a flood of law suits in the future.  Those about to retire are finding annuity rates 'raping' their projected income, questioning why they ever went down that route for provisioning for their old age in the first place.

i had an 80 odd grand pot with standard life and when looking like getting made redundant 3 years ago to the tax free sum to pay off mortgage,
i get 335 a month off the remainder, but dont actualy take the money and it goes back in through the back door along with the 150 quid i was paying,through a sipp,
i,m now thinking i should have took the money  and along with the 150 reinvested it somewhere else,
ive sort have got into my head that no matter when i take it that 330 wont get any bigger i,m now 53,
i was told the money reinvested through the back door would be available as another tax free lump when i,m 55,
at the time i was more concentrated on paying the mortgage off than worrying about the monthly payments i would recieve,so basicaly signed it off without to much thought,as it was i wasnt made redundantand have moved into a company scheme,
all rather confusing anyone got any advice

I think you should get some proper advice rather than expecting much from here! Here's a few thoughts.

Who is the SIPP with? Have you had a close look at the charging structure? They have a charge for pretty well everything and there are significant differences between SIPPs from different companies. e.g. SIPPDeal don't currently charge an annual fee. All the charging schemes are quite complex, so take a careful look. Are you investing in funds and if so have you checked the charges? In these days of low returns the charges are much more significant. If you move your SIPP to another provider there will be a charge, but this may be covered if the SIPP you move to has a fairer charging structure.

Normally when you retire you can take 25% of your pot tax free. Once you have done that, you'd normally either buy an annuity or take income draw down with the rest. I presume that you are taking income draw down, then investing that in a SIPP. Is that correct?
You should get advice on the tax implications of investing from your earnings (where you'd expect to get tax relief on your contributions) and the way you are investing here. If you drew the 335 a month that would be taxable income. Of course, any tax relief on pension contributions would be more significant if you are a 40% tax payer.

Does your new company scheme offer any form of matching of contributions into their scheme? If so, you should certainly be taking advantage of that.

Rough calculation
investing ca 500 a month = 6K a year, which after 5 years = 30K. If we include some returns, I'd estimate a tax free lump sum of ca 8-9K at 55yo

My advice is that you should be paying it in while you are working, not drawing it out imo.

Some pension company was in trouble last week and we bought it out and sold it all on.  We have just been down the bar doing the oysters and shampoo on the takings.  I doubt it was yours though.

Your contribuition makes sense, Goering. Because you are so lame you cannot compete in a healthy market?

Valuation in the post. I'll let you know how they're performing.

obvious question to those in the no but,as your allowed to switch providers to secure the best annuity  am i right in believing that you transfer one pension pot into another pension pot

1st time poster - yes but I beleive there is a charge, probably both the one pressing the button and his counterpart who reacts get a "drink."

PS:  I got a valuation, and the pot had increased c 15%, but, curiously, the figure related to the end of April. You'd think if they took 6 months to produce a figure, it wouldn't be 6 months out of date.