Should you consolidate your old pensions?

Most people with a few jobs behind them have three or four pensions and a drawer of statements. Bringing them together makes the plan easier to manage, but tidiness on its own is not a reason to move money.

Check the charges first. Older workplace schemes are sometimes cheaper than anything available today, and sometimes twice the price. The number to compare is the total cost, not the headline annual management charge.

Then check for guarantees. Some older policies carry a guaranteed annuity rate or protected tax-free cash. These are easy to lose by transferring and impossible to get back. If a policy was written before 1990, assume there is something worth reading before you touch it.

Then check what each pot is actually invested in. A plan sitting in a default fund from 2004 may be taking far more or far less risk than you would choose now.

Only then is consolidation a question about convenience. When it is, we do the paperwork and you get one login instead of four. When it is not, we say so and the file stays as it is.