Accounts Held Thread

[planteria]

there was a thread re which Accounts we have, but i can't see it.

i currently have:
10 Current Accounts.
3 Credit Card accounts
1 Charge Card account
Savings Accounts with almost all UK Building Societies
7 Pension policies
2 Investment ISAs
1 RSP with a Friendly Society
5 Investment Bonds with Mutuals

planning to streamline later in the year when various bonuses have been paid and cashback accrued.

the 10 Current Accounts:
HSBC
Child
Nationwide
Lloyds x 2
TSB x 4
Santander

the first four are keepers
the second Lloyds account is a mule to switch at some point, for example to Co-op Bank, with DDs already set up.
the TSB and Santander accounts can be closed once all bonuses and cashback received.

sharing this as it's kind of my plan.. but also open to anyone sharing their set up or plans, or telling me how i'm missing out.

[Luke_PieStalker]

7 Pensions! Are you Boris Johnson?

Serioiusly though respect for playing the game. You got to be in it to win it.

[planteria]

yes it may seem a bit excessive LPS.
4 are mutual 'bags'.
an Aviva pension that is being paid into on my behalf.
a Scottish Widows pension that previous employer paid into.
my SIPP which is invested in MSTR

[Chadwick]

7 Pensions! Are you Boris Johnson?

Changing employers usually leads to multiple pensions.I think I've got three now, having just consolidated two different pensions from the same employer (two separate periods of employment).

[Phil85]

I've got over 10 pensions...
...from 10 different companies...

[planteria]

interesting Phil.
from 10 companies you have worked with, and you choose not to consolidate them?
or you have consciously decided to open pension plans with 10 different companies?

[Phil85]

10 companies I worked for...
Did look into consolidating but there were complications...
First 3 were final salary (and only small) so best left alone.
Remainder are money purchase and even consolidating two with the same company (I went back for a short while years after leaving) and two with the same provider (in consecutive companies) proved problematic due to the different ways they were set-up/administered.
In the end I was given a recommendation to a pension advisor at a company called St James Place who devised a plan to move all the MP plans (apart from my current one) into one of theirs...but I really wasn't convinced that the advantages outweighed the potential increased charges...
Anyone heard of them/vouch for their services??!

[planteria]

thank you for the full response Phil.

the DB ones are best left alone, i assume.. although sometimes the value of them if you transfer can be very high so some do transfer.

consolidating the DC ones may make sense, but to do so to a provider with low charges, or another good reason, such as flexibility, would be the way.

St James have been panned for their high charges, with claims, including class actions?, against them.

in terms of flexibility i haven't transferred other DC pensions into my SIPP, but no standard fund from any of the usual pension providers will be matching my SIPP's performance in recent months.

[planteria]

updating my 'open to imutual' personal planner

the 10 Current Accounts:
HSBC
Child
Nationwide
Lloyds x 2
TSB x 4
Santander

the 2nd Lloyds account is transferring into the Santander account.
i'm trying to open a NatWest account to transfer one of the TSB accounts into, as discussed elsewhere, but with little success so far.
if that doesn't work out, when TSB S&S accounts are no longer generating £5/m, i plan to drop to just 5 accounts later in the year:

HSBC
Lloyds
Child
Nationwide
Santander - this would be available for a transfer, with DDs in place, as & when an opportunity presents itself.