Virgin Stakeholder Pension - any good?

gavinm79

i am 31 and have had one of these for about 5 yrs.no employer contribs. ive only been paying "odds in" - around £100 a month. ill finally be debt-free around october and want to start putting a decent amount into a pension - around £500 a month.

should i stick with virgin? if not what are my options? can i transfer to a different one, start a second pension...? any advice much appreciated.

Aegis

Take a look around for cheaper options. From what I've seen, Virgin are one of the most expensive and most limited pensions out there, so there would appear to be no advantage to stocking with them. As it's a stakeholder, there are no barriers to transferring out to a different scheme.

dunstonh

finally be debt-free around october and want to start putting a decent amount into a pension - around £500 a month.

That is a good amount for a regular.

should i stick with virgin?

pretty much up there as one of the most limited pensions you can buy and not cheap either.

gavinm79

thanks guys. can anyone recommend a different provider or point me in the right direction re a comparison site?

dunstonh

gavinm79 wrote: »

thanks guys. can anyone recommend a different provider or point me in the right direction re a comparison site?

Comparison sites are generally poor on pensions and understandably so. They won't have access to most plans and just a limited panel and their distribution costs could make one plan be expensive at one site and cheaper at another.

Also, the best provider for one person could be the worst for another. So far this year, in the course of my business, I have already recommended 8 different providers to different people as there is no one best option. In your case,your contribution level and age suggest a multi-charge personal pension would be the cheapest option rather than a mono charged stakeholder or personal pension. Indeed, a multi-charge PPP on a typical fee basis with an IFA would almost certainly be cheaper than a nil commission stakeholder.

The other issue will depend on how you want to invest. You seem to be focusing on the provider and not how you want to invest. The pension is just a container for investments. As they all have to comply with the same rules, the only differences are investments, charges and features offered.

If you dont know what you should have then get a local IFA to give you advice. It wont cost you any more than the Virgin pension and assuming you only want basic investments, it would cost you less.