Case study
Why it is the kind of pension, not the size of it, that decides whether you need an expert.
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General information, not advice on your own case.
Based on a real case. The details have been anonymised and some figures rounded, so that no one involved can be identified.
Two spouses, both 34 and a couple of months apart in age, divorcing with around £350,000 between them in money-purchase (defined contribution) pensions. They came to us worried, because £350,000 sounds like exactly the sort of number that must need an expert.
That much pension surely needs a proper report. Instruct an expert, get it valued, divide it carefully.
We looked at what they actually had, and told them to save their money. Their pensions were both defined contribution, pots of money rather than guaranteed income, and similar in size. They were young, more than thirty years from State Pension age, with decades still to build. We even checked their State Pensions: their contributions to date were the same, both were working and earning similarly, so those were on track to build up equally too. Nothing in the picture needed an actuary to untangle, and under the Pension Advisory Group's guidance (PAG2), simple, similar pots at their age do not call for a report, whatever the headline value.
£350,000 of pensions, and the report they thought they needed would have added nothing.
Nothing, because we told them not to spend it. The size of the number had frightened them; the nature of the pensions meant they could divide them fairly between themselves.
It is not the size of the pensions that decides whether you need an expert, it is the kind. Simple, similar pots of money, especially for younger people with years left to build, can often be divided without a report, and a good expert will tell you so. The free check on this site is built to give you that same answer in a couple of minutes.
Try the "Do I need a PODE?" tool.
The free check takes about two minutes and tells you where you stand.