If your circumstances change and you leave your employer, the pension benefits you have built up still belong to you.

Most schemes will allow you to transfer your pension pot to another pension scheme, which could be a new employer’s workplace pension scheme, a personal pension scheme, a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) or a stakeholder pension (SHP) scheme.

You don’t have to decide straight away, you can generally transfer at any time up to a year before the date that you are expected to start drawing retirement benefits. It is important to fully understand your options and the value of any guaranteed benefits that you may be giving up.

If you wish to transfer your pension benefits to an overseas pension scheme, the new scheme must be a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme. If so, the transfer may proceed in much the same way as a UK transfer, although if the transfer includes contracted-out benefits, it may be more complicated.

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