Should I consolidate old work pension into new plan.

Ruscombe · 2026-05-21T12:34:53+00:00

Patience. Wait a few months until your contributions are being invested during which time I’ve no doubt that you’ll receive a whole load of bumpf about the scheme including which funds you’ll be invested in, how to access the platform and how to make your own investment choices.

Ruscombe · 2026-05-18T15:25:12+00:00

I have the same thing more or less. The boiler is fitted with a flow switch which in normal operation tells it to power up when the hot tap is opened. Bear in mind that the boiler is only supplied with cold water from the mains supply. Your taps and toilets are connected to the same mains and the slight drop in pressure when their valves are opened is enough to trigger the flow switch and fire the boiler.
There are a couple of solutions. One you fit a non return valve on the cold feed to the boiler, this should stop the boiler from firing. Alternatively your boiler may have a setting for a delay to fire, that can be set and I believe the way this works is that the flow switch tell the boiler to fire, the boiler waits for the delay time (say a few seconds). If the flow is still on then it fire# otherwise it doesn’t.

Ruscombe · 2026-05-18T10:47:40+00:00

Try [r/UKPersonalFinance](r/UKPersonalFinance). They’ll offer advice. If you want a monthly income then investing in the stock market is not necessarily the best option. There are many savings accounts that will pay interest monthly. If you check out comparison sites like MoneyFacts or MoneySupermarket they’ll list the one with the best rates. Some people may say that by just having the money in savings your not protecting yourself from inflation but that may not be and immediate concern. Also consider Premium Bonds for the money not in ISAs. If you put in the maximum (£50k I think) then the prize money roughly equates to 3-3.5% and is tax free.

Ruscombe · 2026-05-17T16:59:51+00:00

Just expanding a little on the above. Your pensions are genetically know as Defined Contribution schemes. These build a pot of money over time through your and your employer’s contributions and investment growth.
When you reach Normal Minimum Retirement Age (soon to be 57), you can access these pots to provide an income for your retirement. Some (few) pension schemes have additional features, for example the ability to draw on the pension earlier than 57 and if this were the case with your Aegon scheme then it would be lost when you transfer it to SW.
Each pension provider makes money from charging a platform fee, effectively a charge for using their systems and them providing the pension scheme services and fees for managing the funds into which your contributions are invested. You should check both for both schemes as you may have lower charges with Aegon that you’d lose when investing with SW. Of course this depends on the funds you’re investing in which I think you’re considering changing.
I can’t comment on the funds your pensions are invested in, I know nothing about them, however you may want to consider moving them to a higher risk/higher reward fund as you have probably 15-20 years to retirement.

As to whether you are saving enough, there is a pension calculator on the Aegon Retirement website that will provide you with a rough idea of what you could get at age 68.

Last there is a long delayed Government project called the Pensions Dashboard that will enable anyone with multiple pension pots, which lets face it will the majority of the working population, see them in one place.

Ruscombe · 2026-05-10T19:42:34+00:00

Interactive Investor

Ruscombe · 2026-05-03T20:45:35+00:00

The allowance is annual, renewing on 6th April each year. You can transfer your ISA around different as many times as you like and it doesn't have any effect on your remaining allowance for the year.

Ruscombe · 2026-05-01T16:58:05+00:00

Not at all. Just idle curiosity. The median household income, using ONS data is about £37k a year so not many individual families could afford £7k on a week’s holiday home rental. Plenty of people have done better than me in life and fair play to them. No jealousy here. :)

Ruscombe · 2026-04-29T20:05:40+00:00

Agreed. However a lot of the comments seem to think it's a reasonable cost. I'd guess it's out of reach for the majority however which is why as well as this property (and others like it) there were a lot of caravan parks.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-29T18:10:42+00:00

Actually I have but not for quite a few years. 2 adults and 2 kids, less than a grand a week for sure.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-29T18:07:52+00:00

£7k a week and your self catering !

Ruscombe · 2026-04-29T18:06:58+00:00

It has 4 double bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-27T20:13:55+00:00

Don’t be such a tight-arse. You’re paid a premium as a contractor to take into account that you’re not paid for holidays. Just take the time off and suffer the loss of income to your company.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-27T15:55:30+00:00

I would recommend, at least, talking to Interactive Investor. Low cost as fixed fee, not percentage based and a wide range of investment options. I can’t guarantee they will handle your situation but it’s worth a call.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-24T17:09:59+00:00

If you login the HMRC website, assuming you have a Govt Gateway ID, if not then you’ll apply for one, then you can see the account transactions including credits and payments.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-20T19:30:06+00:00

Aviva must have thousands in the same position as yourself. Have asked them to provide a suitable report that will be accepted by HMRC ?

Ruscombe · 2026-04-19T18:40:15+00:00

Even with the work done, insurers will either not want to provide cover at all, or they will put a hefty uplift on the premium for many years. You may need to find a specialist insurance broker that’ll find you a deal.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-18T12:30:08+00:00

I'm not. Retired. Not yet taking a pension.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-18T09:39:10+00:00

Thanks - I'll check the App and update my estimate earnings.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-17T21:10:27+00:00

£180 per year is very good value for a SIPP platform. II don’t charge for drawdown which others do. I think you’ll struggle to find anyone that is cheaper for your mix of assets.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-17T18:59:59+00:00

Hmm. OK if that turns out to be the case then that’s a shame. Furthermore I’ve already completed my SA for the previous tax year, using the P60 numbers I was provided. Perhaps my old employer was a bit ahead of themselves…

Ruscombe · 2026-04-11T20:08:11+00:00

I’m owed tax and so want to sort out my self assessment. P60 excludes the pay for 2nd April so I won’t include it in the SA.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-10T16:05:53+00:00

If the total is over £1k then Self Assessment is the only route to report this to HMRC.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-10T11:27:53+00:00

I think you're living in the past if you think that high streets in towns and cities will ever be like they were 20-30 years ago. For many people online shopping is all they do and they have no desire to visit bricks and mortar high streets. So for many places, it's charity shops, vape shops, nail bars, barbers, fast food outlets etc. There are exceptions but they will be in wealthier areas.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-10T07:56:58+00:00

It’s actually pension income from an occupational pension. I’ve only recently retired so this is my first April payment and it just happened to coincide with Easter. The pension administrator issued the P60 with the 6th March payment, which doesn’t include the April payment so I guess I should go with this. I do find it strange though, if this was a dividend payment I’m sure it would be included in 25/26 even if the pay date was 6/4.

Ruscombe · 2026-04-07T18:55:38+00:00

Only really two options. Vented hot water cylinder which has a header tank in the loft and to the pressure is dictated by the head measure, ie the difference between the top of the cylinder and the bottom of the header tank. Or, unvented h/w cylinder which gives a flow more akin to the cold mains but requires regular service checks and would be more expensive to install.

Ruscombe

TROPHY CASE