CETV's

Hi any one. How do we sort out the pension thing. We are trying to do this nicly but do not know what the CEVT is all about. We have written to 5 pensions for Kevin. He has sat at the same desk for 25 years but has worked for about 6 different firms. Every time a new firm take over his employment they change his pension. Hence he now has about 5 and he says they are worth nothig. When we get these letters back we are none the wiser. I have a small pension that I have done privatly for 20 years, but he says that it is different than a works pension. Who do we ask about this stuff. Please.

Hi,

In my experience there are four main areas to consider including the CETV. Once these are fully understood it is then a question of negotiating what you want out of the settlement of the pensions to meet your objectives.

The four areas are:

- The type of pension (defined benefit / defined contribution)
- Whether it is in payment or not.
- The valuation of the pension / believe me the CETV is only the beginning. Is the value fair and does it cover all benefits?
- What are the options available. pension sharing / pension attachment or pension offsetting. Each has merits but what is available.

Pensions can be surprisingly valuable and it is important to consider your retirement income (when perhaps there are more pressing needs like rehousing).

There are a lot of pitfalls but if you work through the above list and really get a thorough understanding of each part you will be in a better position to make an informed choice.

There are a number of professionals (in additon to your solicitor) that you may need to use to help assess these pensions - chiefly an actuary and an IFA. Ensure that they understand the position and are well schooled in divorce work.

Once you have the CETVs you will have a better understanding of how much money is at stake and therefore, how much money it is worth spending in getting the right solution for you.

I trust this helps for a starter. Please post again for more comments.

Regards

Phil

Please note: Although I am a Resolution Accredited Independent Financial Adviser my comments are given here as general guidance ­­­­base­­­­ d on the (often limited) information available and does not constitute financial advice. They should not be seen as a substitute for detailed financial and legal advice.

Thanks for that as you can imagine I am still none the wise. I am trying to get an appointment with a finacial Advisor today. We have been at theis since January and I am getting fed up.
Elaine

Hi,

Ok, let us know how you get on. This is a specialist area so ensure that your adviser is up to speed. I specialise in this area and I would caution you that it is unlikely that a general IFA will have the necessary skill set.

I am happy to provide second opinion via this thread or via PM.

Regards

Phil

Please note: Although I am a Resolution Accredited Independent Financial Adviser my comments are given here as general guidance ­­­­­base­­­­­ d on the (often limited) information available and does not constitute financial advice. They should not be seen as a substitute for detailed financial and legal advice.

Pensions are from another planet.
CETV Cash Equivalent Transfer Value - it's the amount of cash each pension scheme would give K if he wanted to move his pensions to another scheme - this CETV is also used to show what the pensions are worth when it comes to thinking about sharing them on divorce.
Do all the pensions have different names and contact details?
Are any of them final salary schemes where he'll get a pension's that's a fixed percentage of the salary he's getting when he retires?
Does K get a statement each year for each pension scheme saying how much cash is in each pension fund?
What are they worth in total?

Just wondering how you got on with finding IFAs elaine.
I never met an IFA who could get down to my level of ignorance on ordinary financial matters like tax and compound interest.
It's a couple of years ago now but back then no "ordinary" pension IFA I saw understood pension sharing - things may have moved on but I think you have to look hard for a divorce savvy IFA in your area - not sure if IFA regs.allow advice to be conducted online?
I saw quite a few pension IFAs after my divorce for advice on what to do with my share of the pension - I was stunned by their up-front fees and/or by the amount they would get each year from my pension fund for "advising" me even though I wanted no investment in anything risky.
In my experience the annual charges are the thing to look out for - they can kill any real growth in your pension fund.

I rang the one I picked out of the phone book. Turned out to be accross the road form my home. He was helful to ythe exstent of telling me what I had done is what he would do. He has offered to take a look at evet=ry thing when I have all the paper work, and he said he would put me intouch with a pension specilist if he felt I needed one... No charge of course for the phone call but found him helpful now just waiting for the old man to open all the CEVT's as they are all on the ide and he is not opening them... Like kids I have showen him mine now I want to see his....