best pension plan for me ?

tom_thumb_2

As a 37 year old self employed building work, i need to start a pension up. My forecast from the gov states that my stamp payments will give me a state pension after paying in for 30 years. I am looking to put in around £40-£50 a week.
I know very little about pension and was told a tracker pension would be best ? any info would be great - thanks

dunstonh

As a 37 year old self employed building work, i need to start a pension up.

If you havent got one already then yes you do. The self employed get lower state pensions. Just £4700 a year.

I know very little about pension and was told a tracker pension would be best ?

What type of tracker? Are you a medium/high risk type of person? (e.g. could you handle your investment values dropping by upto 50% in a 12 month period during bad times?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. You have easy and simple options for those that dont care or are lazy. These are rarely the best option but are better than nothing. Then you have a middle ground of quality options but require more research and knowledge and then you have the experienced investor products.

You need to decide if you want to buy it through a discount IFA or buy it from an IFA (we can rule out buying it from a bank or insurance agent as you should never do that). You shouldnt buy direct as you dont benefit from that.

You are self employed so you should have your head screwed on about business. You are also a builder so you must have seen some awful DIY jobs in your time. What you need to ask yourself is are you capable of going DIY with your pension or do you need someone to do it for you.

MikeJones_2

dunstonh wrote: »

You are self employed so you should have your head screwed on about business. You are also a builder so you must have seen some awful DIY jobs in your time. What you need to ask yourself is are you capable of going DIY with your pension or do you need someone to do it for you.

Excellent. Nearly choked on my glass of wine.

Mike

I work in the field of Pension Education and Pension Guidance in the UK. I am a current member of the Specialist Pensions Forum as well as being a Voluntary Adviser for The Pensions Advisory Service. I work with scheme members, employers, trustees, scheme administrators and advisers on most things to do with employer sponsored pension schemes. The views expressed by me in this thread are my personal opinions. You should seek professional advice from an appropriately experienced and qualified adviser. I am not an IFA.

EdInvestor

You may like to look at the company which provides financial products for the building trade

http://www.bandce.co.uk/Default.aspx

They are not the cheapest, but fairly close to the top of the FSA pension tables in terms of charges:

https://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables ( look at stakeholder and personal pensions)

tom_thumb_2

Thanks for the advice, i have some investments already in place for when i come to retire, : ie several properties that will bring me in an income, I just want to put around £40-50 a week into the best pension available, a low risk one ? i did speak to an advisor at my building society would this not be a good idea taking one out with them ? thanks for any help -

dunstonh

i did speak to an advisor at my building society would this not be a good idea taking one out with them ?

No, its an awful idea. When you get advice you should get it from an independent. Not a sales rep working for a salesforce.

IFAs account for just 2% of complaints currently at the FOS. IFAs do the marjority of transactions. Banks and building societies account for over 50% of complaints. (source FOS). Sales and advice dont go well together. The guy at the building society could be really nice and friendly but he has sales targets. A sales manager putting the pressure on. Incentives etc. That sort of pressure can lead to poor quality advice. Many building societies are tied or multi-tied or work on whole of market basis. That can limit the quality too. I saw the charging structure from Norwich & Peterborough recently and it was really expensive. You are not getting good value for money as products are retailed at higher cost.

tom_thumb_2

Thanks for the advice, i will certainly go and see an independant financial advisor this week - cheers