Moved onto a new job and looking to move your pension away from Nest? Here’s how to transfer your Nest pension to a new provider (like Beach).
Nest (National Employment Savings Trust) is one of the biggest workplace pension providers in the UK. They provide pensions to employees, arranged by the employer.
It’s technically owned by the government and was set up when the auto-enrolment scheme was introduced to make it easier for employers to offer their employees a pension (where almost all employees are automatically set up with a pension when they start a job, unless they opt out).
Once you have left a job that used Nest as their pension, you are free to move your pension away to the provider of your choice (such as combining it with other old pensions to keep your retirement savings in one place), or you can keep it with Nest if you want to.
First, you need to find a pension provider who can transfer and combine pensions.
We're biased, but we think Beach is a pretty great option. You can set up a pension easily, manage everything on an app on your phone, and then transfer and combine your old pensions into one pension pot, giving you the ability to manage your retirement savings in a single place.
Transferring a pension with Beach is completely free (and free to find lost pensions if you’re not sure where they are). You’ll pay a fee as part of your pension account once your money arrives (like almost all pensions, including Nest).
Once you’re settled on a great new provider, it’s time to initiate a pension transfer from Nest. This is different for each provider, but with Beach, simply head on into the app, select pension transfer and add your Nest pension details.
If you don’t know the pension details, we’ll find them for you, just click ‘don’t know’ within the app (although the transfer will be quicker if you do know your pension details).
To speed up the Nest pension transfer process all you need is your policy number, and it normally starts with ‘MEM’ and looks like this: MEM123456789
You can find this by:
Your new pension provider will handle things from there and request the pension from Nest with the online transfer system Origo, which is a quicker way of transferring pensions. If both providers use it, it can speed things up. Beach and Nest both use it.
With Beach, we’ll keep you updated on the progress, and here for any questions you have, with a UK based support team.
Your pension should then turn up in around 4-6 weeks. Although it can be much quicker (or longer). Our current record for a pension transfer from Nest is just 11 days!
And that’s it. Your pension account with Nest will be closed, and you’ll be able to save with your new provider. You can transfer any other pensions you’d like to (and new ones in future), and with some providers (like Beach) you can add more money yourself too, to boost your pension pot further.
Did you know you can keep saving into your pension tax-free? Instead of contributions going into your pension from your payslip before tax (like they do with a work pension), if you add money after you get paid, the government will give you the tax back (called tax relief). This is an automatic 25% bonus on every contribution you make into your pension to refund 20% tax (we’ll handle this for you), and if you pay 40% or 45% tax you can claim the extra 20% or 25% back directly from the government.
Beach helps you save for a brighter future, and offers an easy to use pension pot for retirement savings.
We offer a free service to transfer and combine pensions, and a retirement plan suited to your age, managed by the largest investment company in the world.
It all works on our easy to use mobile app, and we have a UK based support team, here when you need us over email or phone.
You also have the option to save separately to your pension with an easy access pot, where you can save and invest tax-free, and withdraw when you’d like (takes around a week). Ideal for general savings.
We’re fully authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and you are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000.
A pension transfer simply means moving your money from one pension provider to another. It involves selling your investments within your pension plan, transferring the money, and then your money is invested within your new pension plan with the new provider.
If you weren't aware, typically all pension plans are invested, and it’s the investments that help it grow over time to (hopefully) a big pot ready for retirement.
The transfer process varies between providers, and sometimes there’s lots of paperwork involved, and sometimes none at all. It all depends on the provider. We try to make the whole process as smooth as possible, with the transfer managed in our easy to use app.
People transfer pensions for a variety of reasons, but the most common are:
Money within a pension is invested within your pension plan, so when transferring to a new provider, make sure you are happy with the plans they offer, and consider things like the service from the provider and any benefits and fees. Make sure you are happy!
As your money is invested, this means the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you put in.
If you are unsure, it can be a good idea to speak to a financial advisor.
With Beach we make the transfer process as easy as possible, all managed within our app. If you are ready to get started, here’s where to download Beach.