SERPS - anyone know much about it?

[the_rangdo]

Just reading up on SIPPS and protected rights funds this morning (exciting, I know) and it's made me think, where are my SERPS contributions going?

Way back when I was a member of a final salary scheme (no frozen) I opted out of SERPS so presumably that element of my NI went towards my pension.

But what happens you move employment, join different pension schemes, etc? How do you keep track of SERPS?

[Gonzo]

Just reading up on SIPPS and protected rights funds this morning (exciting, I know) and it's made me think, where are my SERPS contributions going?

Way back when I was a member of a final salary scheme (no frozen) I opted out of SERPS so presumably that element of my NI went towards my pension.

But what happens you move employment, join different pension schemes, etc? How do you keep track of SERPS?

Firstly: I am not a Financial Adviser, I am not allowed to charge for giving financial advice, the value of your investment and the income from it can go down as well as up etc.

Contributions to SERPS (now known as the State Second Pension) entitle you (under current rules!) to an additional State Pension payment when you retire.

At any time you opted out of SERPS then you and your employer would have paid less National Insurance, the trade off being that some elements of your private pension arrangement became ringfenced, either as Protected Rights, or a Guaranteed Minimum Pension, or possibly something else (pension rules over time have been tweaked so much it is a nightmare staying on top of it).

Protected Rights and GMP protected funds were not previously allowed into a SIPP, but will be under the new rules.

Best place to start to try and get a view on where you are currently would be to get in touch with these people:

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/...ecast/home.asp

Incidently, I have another 30 years to go to retirement (under current rules!) Do I expect the current arrangements to be in place then? Absolutely not. Remember, SERPS is not a pot of money specifically set aside for you, it is a promise that the government at the time will pay you a slightly larger pension when you retire. It is a promise that could be rescinded at any time, by any future government.

[OrangeHopper]

I am opted out of SERPS on a personal basis and I've put together a spreadsheet that I use to check that the right amount of money is being paid into my personal protected rights pension according to the amount of NI paid. If anyone is interested in this then please send me a PM.

[the_rangdo]

Thanks for the linky Gonzo, I'll see what's what hopefully tomorrow.

As the scheme I was in has been frozen since 2001 I'm going to guess I'll have been opted in again by default.

[pmeswani]

At any time you opted out of SERPS then you and your employer would have paid less National Insurance, the trade off being that some elements of your private pension arrangement became ringfenced, either as Protected Rights, or a Guaranteed Minimum Pension, or possibly something else (pension rules over time have been tweaked so much it is a nightmare staying on top of it).

If memory serves me right, if you change employers / pension schemes, you automatically opt back into SERPS.

[the_rangdo]

That would sum my last permie company up, no mention was ever made regarding be able to opt out. And as it was so long since I last opted out I'd forgotten all about it

[Gonzo]

If memory serves me right, if you change employers / pension schemes, you automatically opt back into SERPS.

That would sum my last permie company up, no mention was ever made regarding be able to opt out. And as it was so long since I last opted out I'd forgotten all about it

I don't think that is quite the case.

The pension scheme offered by the employer would either be opted in to or opted out of SERPS and you would be told that at the time you joined it.

If the employer's scheme was opted in, then it always used to be possible to purchase a SERPS opt-out only pension from a number of pension companies to enable a person to opt out. These are almost impossible to get now.

[the_rangdo]

Very scant details provided by my previous employer, I joined at the point when a small successful sub-prime finance company got taken over by a behemoth of a US finance powerhouse and communication wasn't (ever) a strong point. Skimmed through all the documentation today, can't see any obvious mention of it.

And like I said, I opted out of a different scheme way back in 1991 so SERPS was long forgotten about until this weekend

[Lewis]

You can request a state pension projection (you'll need to google to find out from which department, I can't remember) which shows amounts due to contracting out of SERPS and S2P (the SERPS replacement). I did this a while back, however I think the service is temporarily suspended at the moment.

[Bluebird]

You can request a state pension projection (you'll need to google to find out from which department, I can't remember) which shows amounts due to contracting out of SERPS and S2P (the SERPS replacement). I did this a while back, however I think the service is temporarily suspended at the moment.

yep, you have to register at Government Gateway - it's a good tool - or was when it was available...