When to leave a workplace pension pot alone
Consolidation is not always the tidy answer—especially with safeguarded benefits.
Clients often arrive asking whether every old workplace pot should move into one SIPP. The instinct is tidy. The risk is trading away guarantees you cannot buy back.
Start with the scheme booklet
Before any transfer talk, find the member booklet and annual statement. Look for final salary links, guaranteed annuity rates, or early retirement reductions that soften if you wait. Those features belong in a Retirement Income Map before anyone discusses fund choice.
Costs are not the only ledger
A higher annual management charge can still be the better hold if the scheme includes valuable death benefits or employer matching you have not fully used. Write both columns: pounds of charge versus pounds of protection.
A practical pause
If statements are incomplete, pause. Meridian Trust will not model a consolidation recommendation on guessed balances. Request duplicate statements first; the delay is cheaper than an irreversible transfer.