Adding to a Scottish Widows Pens Portfolio Two

cambs1999 · 12 March 2017 at 11:47AM

Hi,

My husband has a works pension. They are currently paying into Scottish Widows Pens Portfolio Two.

I've been looking into this pension a bit more, my husband requested a pension without much risk - however it appears to be a medium risk option. Does anyone have any knowledge of this pension, the risk and how it's been performing over the last few years? I've had a quick look and it seems to be doing ok but my knowledge in pensions is pretty much zero.

With his employer contributions he's currently paying in around £360 per month. We were thinking of upping it by another £70 a month but before we do this we wanted to check whether this would be a wise decision?

Thanks

dunstonh · 12 March 2017 at 12:33PM

Does anyone have any knowledge of this pension, the risk and how it's been performing over the last few years?

It is not a pension. It is a fund within a pension that is available on a few of their versions. Its a really basic fund designed for simplicity over quality. That does not make it bad. It will expected to be middle of the road in terms of performance relative to risk profile. It is at the higher end of medium risk.

With his employer contributions he's currently paying in around £360 per month. We were thinking of upping it by another £70 a month but before we do this we wanted to check whether this would be a wise decision?

Anything extra you put towards retirement is a good thing. You could do better but you would need either to use an IFA (and its not cost effective with such a small amount) or DIY (and that requires a higher level of knowledge). You could do a lot worse. So, accept that it is a basic plan with a basic investment option really aimed to stopping you from making mistakes.

sandsy · 12 March 2017 at 12:39PM

How old is your husband?

You say he wanted to invest without much risk - but funds without much investment risk often give rise to another risk - the risk that the fund will not outperform inflation, in effect making the buying power of the fund less than it was when the money was contributed! Losing money in real terms is far from ideal so it's generally advisable to take on some risk, especially when an individual is still some years from retirement.

cambs1999 · 12 March 2017 at 7:42PM

Thanks for your replies.

He is 45, so we're starting to look at his retirement a bit more seriously now to try to make sure we do what we can now to ensure he ends up with a fairly reasonable amount in 20 or so years.

Can you also advise as to a reasonable amount he should be aiming for to enable him to have a reasonable income in retirement, I.e £300,000/£400,000 etc? He currently has around £170,000 ish over 3 similar set ups to the Scottish Widows one.

Thanks again.

MoneySavingUser · 12 March 2017 at 8:08PM

Presumably, he has a Scottish Widows GPPP?

He should have a read through the information here: http://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/Extranet/Literature/Category/228

The important parts being the guides which tell you what Scottish Widows Pens Portfolio Two is, what the investment approaches that SW use are, what other funds are available etc.

He should also find out which charging structure applies to him. My employer wasn't very helpful in this regard and neither were SW I'm afraid!

Does his employer allow him to contribute via salary sacrifice?

edit: If you really don't know what you are doing, then Pens Portfolio Two is a decent fund to be in. Check which investment approach you are setup in if you are in one (you should be able to see if you log into the website) - I think they have a few such as targeting cash, annuity etc.

kidmugsy · 12 March 2017 at 8:36PM

cambs1999 wrote: »

With his employer contributions he's currently paying in around £360 per month. We were thinking of upping it by another £70 a month

(i) Would his employer contribute more too?

(ii) Does he contribute by salary sacrifice?

(iii) Does he pay higher rate tax?

(iv) How good is your own pension provision?

(v) As a couple, have you got an emergency cash fund?

cambs1999 · 12 March 2017 at 10:52PM

Thanks for the replies.

1.His employer wouldn't contribute more.
2.He pays via salary sacrifice.
3.He isn't a higher tax payer.
4.I have a LGPS pension but only work part time and not likely to return to full time work anytime soon - hoping for a pension of around £15,000 (if I don't take lump sum) but I'm hoping to also up my contributions by around 4%.
5.We don't have much in cash savings as we've been overpaying the mortgage with the intention to pay it off in around 8 years. We have an offset mortgage so could in an emergency gain access to the money we've overpaid.

another_casualty · 12 March 2017 at 11:00PM

It may not be relevant here, but I had a small gripe about Scottish widows.

I used to put £30 p.m into a Scottish widows savings account from mid'80s till mid '90s .
Apparently , I was entitled to £50 after lloyds took them over.

One day , I wanted to withdraw some money . When I phoned , I wasnt recognised. I read out my account no. .they changed it .
It meant, I obviously missed out on the £50. I was naive , and just swallowed it . They should never have changed my details .
That was pre Internet . Probably pre m.s.e.Plus I'm more experienced now.
And bitter

bigadaj · 12 March 2017 at 11:31PM

I believe when they were bought then you were only a member if you and a qualifying, normally pensions, investment or insurance product. If you held money as savings with the bank you didn't qualify.

another_casualty · 12 March 2017 at 11:34PM

bigadaj wrote: »

I believe when they were bought then you were only a member if you and a qualifying, normally pensions, investment or insurance product. If you held money as savings with the bank you didn't qualify.

Thanks for that .

I'll bow out of this thread, so not to derail any important information for the o p
Thanks again

sebthered · 13 March 2017 at 6:42PM

My company pension comprises this fund, 55% pens three- 45% pens 2 - I looked up the details recently here is the link -
https://www.trustnet.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=qgf29&univ=P

I have just turned 55 and I note that my contributions are now being allocated 95%Pens Portfolio 3 and 5% pens 4, which presumably is lower risk. You can of course allocate your payments to any fund/portfolio they hold at anytime.

Adding to a Scottish Widows Pens Portfolio Two

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