Stakeholder pension

brplfc

I have a stake holder pension with Standard Life invested in equities, now I have received information that I can only make twenty changes to my investments for the life of my policy.I now need to move this out ASAP Can I move my fund from standard life to a SIP and still have my stakeholder pension in the SIP
Any body know the best and cheapest and profitable way out

brplfc

middlepuss

If you move your stakeholder to eg a Hardgeaves Lansdown SIPP, you no longer have a Stakeholder pension, you now have a Self Invested Personal Pension. I'm sure there are loads of technical differences, but they both boil down to the same thing.

The SIPP that has the lowest cost probably depends on what you want to invest your pension fund in. H-L or a similar platform may be cheapest for an index tracker for example, but other platforms may be cheaper for other types of investments. If it's a good size fund you might even find that an IFA will set you up the most cost effective SIPP.

What do you plan to invest your pension pot in?

jem16

brplfc wrote: »

Can I move my fund from standard life to a SIP and still have my stakeholder pension in the SIP

Your question about having a stakeholder pension in a SIPP would suggest that you should not be considering a SIPP ( no offence meant).

A SIPP is for the experienced investor who is going to make full use of the extra features that a SIPP offers.

Why are you not considering transferring to a Personal Pension or another stakeholder pension?

dunstonh

Any body know the best and cheapest and profitable way out

Its a stakeholder so there is no cost to exit.

You just need to decide what you want to move it into. As Jem says, a SIPP doesnt look the likely option as that is there more experienced investor option and/or the person wanting investments that are typically not available in personal pensions or stakeholder pensions.

Old_Slaphead

brplfc wrote: »

I have a stake holder pension with Standard Life invested in equities, now I have received information that I can only make twenty changes to my investments for the life of my policy.
brplfc

Where do you get this information from ?

dunstonh

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Where do you get this information from ?

On many old Standard Life plans they did have a lifetime restriction on the number of fund switches you could do. Or rather a maximum of the number of funds you could use over the lifetime of the plan. e.g. the maximum ranged from 12-20 (20 in the case of the stakeholder). You could switch between those 20 as many times as you like but you couldnt have a 21st fund used on the policy.

Not really an issue though as its a stakeholder pension, not a personal pension or SIPP (you wouldnt use a stakeholder pension if you wanted investment flexibility) but most importantly, the Std Life stakeholder only has 14 funds. So, a limit of 20 different funds over the lifetime isnt an issue.

Loughton_Monkey

The fact that your pension is a "Stakeholder" is no big deal. It's a pension.

The thing about Stakeholders is that there is a law on the maximum amount they can charge, and as a result, they give you a limited fund choice in funds that come within this charging rate.

If you are 'happy' with limited funds and a maximum charge, then simply transfer to another Stakeholder. It seem, however, that you are planning quite a lot of fund switches. Therefore, maybe you want some other pension - but do check the charges. Some IFA's claim they can find a supplier with charges less than Stakeholders and with a greater choice of funds.

dunstonh

Some IFA's claim they can find a supplier with charges less than Stakeholders and with a greater choice of funds.

Some?

If an IFA cant find a personal pension with lower charges than a stakeholder for a term in excess of 10 years then they shouldnt be an IFA.

Loughton_Monkey

dunstonh wrote: »

Some?

If an IFA cant find a personal pension with lower charges than a stakeholder for a term in excess of 10 years then they shouldnt be an IFA.

Well I'll take your word for that.

But I asked an IFA (Institute for Archaeologists), and another friend - a member of the International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA) - and neither could find me a better pension!