moving a stakeholder pension

dunstonh

They do not rebate all the charges. They rebate some because they have none of the liability as they are not giving advice and with that comes none of the cost.

When you dont want to use an adviser, it makes more sense to use a discount IFA/broker than going direct to the company itself.

wellsie82

dunstonh wrote:

When you dont want to use an adviser, it makes more sense to use a discount IFA/broker than going direct to the company itself.

ok so ive got my info packs/application forms in the post today, if im sure i know what im doing in terms of starting up the pension with L&G and want to transfer over my pension without this advice charge, what steps should i now take please?

dunstonh

If you have chosen L&G and do it with L&G via their website, you pay 0.9% in annual management charges. If you find a discount IFA/broker, two of which Ed has linked for you, then they can do it for around 0.5% p.a.

You will not get any advice and you will need to tell them what you want to do but they will supply the neccessary paperwork.

Out of interest, why L&G? I transact many hundreds of pension transfers a year and have used L&G less than 5 times in the last 18 months. If low charges are what you want, then you can get better than L&G, if decent funds are what you want, then again you can do better. As for service, well they are pretty disgraceful at present. What is it about L&G that has got you interested?

wellsie82

dunstonh wrote:

If you have chosen L&G and do it with L&G via their website, you pay 0.9% in annual management charges. If you find a discount IFA/broker, two of which Ed has linked for you, then they can do it for around 0.5% p.a.

You will not get any advice and you will need to tell them what you want to do but they will supply the neccessary paperwork.
QUOTE]

maybe its me being stupid but how can they do it for nearly half the "normal" charge

dunstonh wrote:

Out of interest, why L&G? I transact many hundreds of pension transfers a year and have used L&G less than 5 times in the last 18 months. If low charges are what you want, then you can get better than L&G, if decent funds are what you want, then again you can do better. As for service, well they are pretty disgraceful at present. What is it about L&G that has got you interested?

they're a big company, have been around a while, when ive spoken to them via my work they're helpful on the phone, have a wide range of funds (compared to what ive got now anyway) and charges are less than what im paying now. at the end of the day the charges, range of funds and customer services are all something which appeal to me

although im only 24, i want to be hands on with my pension but i dont think i would want to go for a sipp due to how many 1000's of funds/stocks there are to invest in

wellsie82

have had a good look on cavendish online, still cant get my head round how they can be so much cheaper than going direct but not a problem

how do i go about doing this then? if i know what i want, do i print off the form and send it to them or L&G? also do i pay them the fee via cheque? - ignore http://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/COL/Howtoinvest.htm

another thing, once they've set the account up for me, is that then it as far as cavendish are concerned? i assume then i'll get online access with L&G and can view my account(s) 24/7

i assume doing the points above will get round this problem of the fee/advice thing

thanks for all this guys, i do appreciate it

dunstonh

maybe its me being stupid but how can they do it for nearly half the "normal" charge

L&G retail the product through advisers who they pay commision which accounts for around 0.4% of the usual 0.9% L&G stakeholder pension charge. If the advisers choose not to keep all the commission, they can reduce the charge down accordingly. So, an adviser keeping 50% of the commission allowed would see you paying 0.7%. An adviser on fee basis would see you paying 0.5%.

L&G are being greedy on their website because they are keeping the commission they would normally pay the adviser for themselves. So you are buying the full commission retail product at full cost with none of the benefits.

they're a big company, have been around a while, when ive spoken to them via my work they're helpful on the phone, have a wide range of funds (compared to what ive got now anyway) and charges are less than what im paying now. at the end of the day the charges, range of funds and customer services are all something which appeal to me

Fair enough. I wouldnt expect you pick the best pension for you as you dont have access to the research data that IFAs pay for. They arent the worst. Just not the best.

although im only 24, i want to be hands on with my pension but i dont think i would want to go for a sipp due to how many 1000's of funds/stocks there are to invest in

L&G also offer a hybrid SIPP which allows you to pick the stakeholder/personal pension funds at the stakeholder/personal pension pricing but when you feel ready to include SIPP features, they can allow you to do that within their plan. The website product sold direct wouldnt allow that. The hybrid version is better than the stakeholder and would allow you to take it in stages without having to change the pension all over again later on down the road.

wellsie82

dunstonh, thanks for your help, that commission bit there with l&g being greedy has made it so much clearer for me, so in this case me paying a £25 to cavendish then means im saving myself 0.4/5 ish off the yearly charge

how does that work then as i thought the daily fund prices took into account their own yearly charge?

dunstonh

how does that work then as i thought the daily fund prices took into account their own yearly charge?

No. The charge is deducted from your value as an entry on the statement. They take the annual charge and deduct 1/12th of that on a monthly basis.

shinyuk

Dunstonh

I read your comments ref HL and hybrid sipps. Can you send me your contact details, I'd like a discussion ref my particular circumstances.

Regards

shinyuk