Pension transfers can take up to a month – is it worth moving your retirement savings?

Combining old pension pots can be an effective way to manage your retirement savings in one place and save on fees, but slow transfer times mean many savers are facing long waits to merge their money.

Automatic enrolment has helped more people start saving for their retirement through workplace pension schemes but this also means workers can easily collect several different savings pots as they move jobs.

Combining them through one provider or platform can be a useful way to save on fees and monitor performance in one place.

Try 6 free issues of MoneyWeek today

Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.

Start your trial

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

Some investment platforms will even pay cashback for pension transfers.

But analysis by pension transfer software provider Origo warns savers can face a long wait to move their money.

Origo’s latest pension transfer index uncovered a slight improvement in transfer times in 2025 compared with 2024.

The time to transfer a pension dropped overall from 12.7 days in 2024/25 to 11.4 last year.

But there are differences depending on the provider.

Transfer times can range from 4.3 days on average at Forester Life to 24 days from Vanguard, according to Origo.

Separate analysis of average transfer-in times from 35 major UK pension providers and administrators to pensions consolidation platform PensionBee in 2025 found that while the fastest completed transfers took just five days, the slowest, took between 47 and 90 days. The slowest transfers included those from providers like Cushon Master Trust and Creative Pension Trust, XPS Administration, LGPS and Capita.

This could mean paying high fees for longer to a more pricey provider or missing out on investment gains if you planned to move into other investments.

PensionBee has suggested there should be a 10-day pension switch guarantee.

Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK at PensionBee, said: “Ultimately, this is savers' money, and their experience of transferring their pensions should not depend on a lottery of which ceding provider or administrator manages their pot. The processes, infrastructure and technology already exist to support smooth and efficient transfers - but the legislation now needs to work harder to give firms that are failing to respect consumer rights the impetus they need to finally raise their game.”

How long do pension transfers take?

The Financial Conduct Authority has been warning about long pension transfer times since 2015.

Transfers can take a while as it involves moving money invested in the stock market and there could be issues if your new provider doesn’t offer the same funds or shares.

It also depends on the technology that providers use to complete the transfers as some may do it electronically and others may still rely on paper forms that need to be signed.

Providers may also worry about customers being scammed so will want to be sure that the transfer is legitimate.

Origo’s latest data on transfer times said the fastest provider to complete requests last year was Forester Life, which completed requests within 4.3 days on average, just ahead of the 5.5 days from MetLife.

PensionBee’s average transfer time was 10.8 days.

The slowest provider was Vanguard, with an average transfer time of 24.4, although this is an improvement on 26.7 days on average last year.

Should you transfer your pension?

The average worker amasses 10 pension pots during their career, according to the Treasury.

That can be a lot of pension schemes to keep an eye on as well as plenty of logins and passwords to remember.

The main option is either to have multiple pots or combine your pensions so you can manage them in one place.

Many savers do this by combining their old pension savings into a self-invested personal pension that they then manage alongside their current work scheme.

Combining or consolidating your pension may save you money if you can get lower fees and could give you access to wider investment choice.

It also reduces the amount of paperwork when it comes to managing your pension.

It may not always be worth transferring your pension though as you could lose valuable benefits such as guaranteed annuity rates so it may be worth getting a financial adviser to help and check your documentation.

Savers with a defined benefit pension, such as a final salary scheme, are required to get financial advice if the transfer value is above £30,000.

You don't have to do so if you have a more common defined contribution scheme although it could be useful so you understand the costs, any tax implications and the pros and cons.