Finding best stakeholder pension?

tyllwyd

I'm self-employed, and not contributing to a pension at the moment. I work part-time, so I'm not a high earner.

I've got money in a pension scheme from my former employer, and they've written to me to say that there are no longer any active members of this scheme so I should consider moving my money out.

I guess that I need a stakeholder pension, but I'm not at all sure where to start looking. Are there any tips that people could give me about what to look for, or where is the best place to find a list of 'best buy' stakeholder pensions? Once the pension is set up, I'm not planning to contribute into it at the moment if I can avoid it.

Edited to say: I have found Martin's articles on this, and I have read them although I think I need to read them a couple more times for it all to sink in.

Edited again to say - the current scheme is with Scottish Widows. Is there likely to be an advantage in going with them for the stakeholder pension?

dunstonh

I guess that I need a stakeholder pension

Not necessarily. A stakeholder, personal pension, SIPP (full or hybrid) or possibly a section 32 buy out bond with an occupational pension transfer.

Are there any tips that people could give me about what to look for, or where is the best place to find a list of 'best buy' stakeholder pensions?

There is no such thing as a best buy stakeholder. Different providers have different advantages over others depending on what features you want.

Edited again to say - the current scheme is with Scottish Widows. Is there likely to be an advantage in going with them for the stakeholder pension?

None at all.

Why do you want a stakeholder? It may not be cheapest option. Even if it is, they dont have very good investment options. Although some do have the odd few funds in certain areas which arent bad.

This is an investment. You havent once mentioned anything to do with investing but have just picked a certain tax wrapper which may or may not be appropriate. Start thinking about it as an investment and how you want your money invested.

tyllwyd

Thanks! I can see I need to look into this more. I thought that a stakeholder was my only option since I am self-employed, but obviously that was wrong.

EdInvestor

What about a Sipp? You can invest in the best funds in the market ( not so with stakeholder) and the charges are low in the new online versions, eg at
https://www.hargreaveslansdown.co.uk.

If you fancy investing your pension directly in shares, a cheap and cheerful Sipp at https://www.sippdeal.co.uk might be the answer.

tyllwyd

Thanks EdInvestor. I'm a bit scared of going for a SIPP because I have absolutely no financial background at all, so I'm not confident of picking the best investments.

dunstonh

tyllwyd wrote:

Thanks EdInvestor. I'm a bit scared of going for a SIPP because I have absolutely no financial background at all, so I'm not confident of picking the best investments.

A stakeholder, personal pension or SIPP requires you to pick investment funds. The only difference is that the range of funds is least with stakeholders and most with SIPPs. The principle of investing is exactly the same though.

A stakeholder pension offering one or two funds may make it easy for you to decide but you need to check out the dire performance of those funds that get offered on those contracts.

tyllwyd

Thanks - I think I need to do a bit more research on what funds are out there and where I can find information on them. I've discovered that I can leave my money in its current Scottish Widows fund if I choose to do so. I think I need to research how well or badly that one is doing before I make a decision.

tyllwyd

With apologies for going off topic ... I've manged to find the fund for my Scottish Widows pension (unitised with profit) on trustnet, and it doesn't seem to be exactly setting the world on fire. Can someone help explain something to me - under detailed fund information, it says that the status is 'closed'. What does that mean?

dunstonh

it means it is closed for new business. Anyone that has it is fine but they will accept no new contributions into it (excluding exisiting regulars). It's a pretty naff fund.

tyllwyd

dunstonh wrote:

It's a pretty naff fund.

Yes, somehow I thought you were going to say that! Thanks.