Cashing in pension any tips for asking company to exercise discretion?

dunstonh

bored_of_debt wrote: »

Thanks for all of your responses! I'll take a look at the SIPP's then...

What is it about SIPPs that appeals to you? Is it their higher cost and the fact they are designed for the more experienced investor?

bored_of_debt

dunstonh wrote: »

What is it about SIPPs that appeals to you? Is it their higher cost and the fact they are designed for the more experienced investor?

:rolleyes: The fact that I'd be i charge of my investment - be it a good thing or a bad...

I need to understand them fully before I can tell you exactly why they may appeal to me...

dunstonh

:rolleyes: The fact that I'd be i charge of my investment - be it a good thing or a bad...

That doesnt differ from any other pension. The only difference is the range of investment options. A stakeholder will offer around 1-50 funds. A personal pension will offer 50-1900 funds. A SIPP will have around 1900 funds but also have shares and other direct investments available.

So, the choice is better but for funds, the cost is typically higher. If you dont utilise the sort of investments that are not available on a personal pension or stakeholder then you are paying more for features you are not using. Why waste that money?

EdInvestor

It may be hard to explain the attractions of a SIPP to someone who has never had one.

Suffice it so say after a while you almost don't even regard it as a pension, but a normal product like an online bank account, or a stocks and shares ISA.

Perhaps there is no greater recommendation to many people.........:);)

bendix

bored_of_debt wrote: »

:rolleyes: The fact that I'd be i charge of my investment - be it a good thing or a bad...

I need to understand them fully before I can tell you exactly why they may appeal to me...

With the greatest of respect, your sudden interest in SIPPs a handful of posts after you started the thread asking how you can get your money out of a pension is a bit strange.

bored_of_debt

Thanks for all of your posts, I appreciate how this looks; with me asking how to get the money out one minute and then talking about SIPP's the next but I’ll try and explain .

Because I've got so little money in the pp at the moment £2.5k of mine, I thought I'd try and get it out and clear the remainder of my personal debt. I know this is perhaps not the most logical solution long term but hey... I'm craving the clean slate.

Now that I know this isn't possible I'd like to see what I can do with the money I have in the pp. As it's only 7.5k in total I figured that it's not going to provide much for me when I retire (even with general growth) so I’d like to have a 'play around' with the money if I can put it that way without making myself sound like a jack a**?

I'm fairly young but do have quite a sensible head on my shoulders so I would never rush into anything or do anything stupid but I do want to 'something' with it. I don't know what yet.

Having not read about SIPP's past wikipedia yet, I assumed that being self managed it would be a similar concept to having cash in a share trade account? But to be completely honest I haven’t read enough so I won't bug you all with simple questions that I can answer if I take the time to look.

Long term I would like to start a 'main' pension and probably invest in a few different areas so as to not put all my egg's in one basket.

If your not already asleep sorry for boring you all .

EdInvestor

bored_of_debt wrote: »

Now that I know this isn't possible I'd like to see what I can do with the money I have in the pp. As it's only 7.5k in total I figured that it's not going to provide much for me when I retire (even with general growth) so I’d like to have a 'play around' with the money if I can put it that way without making myself sound like a jack a**?

A very sensible appraqoch to learning how to invest, good thinking.:)

Having not read about SIPP's past wikipedia yet, I assumed that being self managed it would be a similar concept to having cash in a share trade account?

That's right but you also have access to cash, gilts, corporate bonds,all manner of funds, both local and international and even commercial property (though you'd need rather more dosh for that )

It's a great way to learn how to invest for the long term.Recommended.

bendix

Agree with Ed.

You say you PP won't give you much of a pension. Fair enough (although I'm not sure how much you have because you say £2.5k and £7.5k in two different places).

But the important thing is that you are in your early twenties and have 30-40 years before even a relatively early retirement.

Frankly, you're way ahead of most people your age - just having a very small amount in your early 20s is a good position to be in; add into that the fact you're actively making plans and thinking about the issue, and you're doing all the right things.

Full credit to you.

bored_of_debt

bendix wrote: »

You say you PP won't give you much of a pension. Fair enough (although I'm not sure how much you have because you say £2.5k and £7.5k in two different places).

Thanks for your replies Ed and Bendix.

I've got around 7.5k in total, what I meant is that I used to contribute 5% and my employer 10%...