Pension Consolidation Calculator

Consolidation is a fee comparison before it is anything else. Every pot carries a platform fee of roughly 0.2 to 0.5% plus fund charges of 0.1 to 1.5%, all levied as a percentage of the value, and the calculator totals what you pay across your existing schemes against the cost of a single combined pot. Over 20 to 30 years the difference compounds hard. The calculator takes each charge off the growth rate every year, so on a £100,000 pot over 25 years at 5% growth, a 1.5% charge (3.5% net) leaves about £236,300 while a 0.5% charge (4.5% net) leaves about £300,500.

Against that saving sit the costs of moving, and the calculator takes any exit charge off the value you transfer. Since 31 March 2017 the FCA has capped early exit charges at 1% for savers aged 55 or over on older contract-based pensions and banned them on newer ones, and trust-based workplace schemes have a matching 1% cap, but younger savers on older plans can still face more. Some workplace schemes come with employer contribution matching or unusually low charges that vanish the moment you leave. The comparison worth trusting is therefore a net one, setting today's charges across every pot against the receiving scheme's costs, any penalty, and anything of value forfeited by walking away.

Some benefits are worth far more than any fee saving. Guaranteed annuity rates, protected tax-free cash above 25%, defined benefit entitlements and life cover attached to an old plan all disappear on transfer. A guaranteed annuity rate of 8% or better, set against open market rates of 6 to 7%, is usually reason enough to leave a policy exactly where it is, and guarantees of 8 to 12% turn up in older contracts more often than people expect. The calculator compares charges only and cannot value a guarantee, so check every old policy for safeguarded benefits before you include it.

The average UK worker holds 11 jobs over a career, which is how the pots pile up in the first place. Good candidates for consolidation are old workplace defined contribution pensions charging more than 1%, small pots under £10k where the administration outweighs the money, old SIPPs with a narrow fund range, and anything whose provider you have simply lost track of. Final salary pensions, policies with guaranteed annuity rates, protected tax-free cash above 25% and deferred state or supplementary pensions all belong in the leave-alone column.

Tracing comes first, and the Pension Tracing Service on gov.uk does that free. Then ask each provider for the fund value, the charges and the investment details, choose the receiving scheme, and complete the transfer forms, which providers now handle electronically between themselves. Transfers typically take 4 to 12 weeks, so check afterwards that every pot has actually landed rather than assuming it has. Beyond an exit penalty on an older plan, the process is usually free.

Cost is the main lever at the receiving end. On the providers' own charges pages in September 2026, Vanguard's personal pension charges 0.15% a year, capped at £375, but holds only Vanguard funds. Interactive Investor charges a flat £5.99 a month up to £100,000 and £14.99 above that, which beats a percentage fee once the pot is large enough. AJ Bell charges 0.25% and Hargreaves Lansdown 0.35% on funds up to £250,000. All of these sit on top of whatever your chosen funds cost.

Advice is compulsory in some cases rather than merely sensible. The Pension Schemes Act 2015 (section 48) requires advice from an FCA-authorised adviser before you transfer or convert safeguarded benefits worth more than £30,000, such as a defined benefit pension or a guaranteed annuity rate, and a full transfer analysis typically costs £2,000 to £5,000, which is cheap next to the mistake it prevents. Pension transfer scams remain common and often start with a cold call from an unauthorised firm, so never act on unsolicited contact and check any adviser against the FCA register at fca.org.uk. Pension Wise gives free government-backed guidance to the over-50s without adviser fees.