flexible & low-management-fee stakeholder pension?

etilico

Hi,

i am looking for a stakeholder pension scheme with:
- low management fees (I know they are capped at 1.5% p.a. but it would be nicer to find something a bit below 1%... perhaps 0.8%?)
- low minimum monthly payment
- possibility to change/stop/resume payments at any time
- possibility to make one-off payments at any time
- possibility to transfer to a Qrops at a later date (originally I am not British so I might decide to go back home before retiring)

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

CannySaver_2

Hi

How much do you want to invest? What funds do you want to buy?

The Canny Saver

dunstonh

stakeholder does give flexibility but its rarely the best value nowadays. The investment options tend to be weak as well. Effectively, your contribution level is going to dictate whether you get access to the best.

etilico

Hi CannySaver, dunstonh, thanks for the quick reply.

I am thinking between £50 and 100 a month, which I might decide to increase later on (I am 31 so I think I have time ahead)

I shall say that I am on my employer's pension scheme already. This would be an additional pot on top of that.

Shall I consider other options instead?

thx

gadgetmind

For small pensions for wife and daughter, I went with stakeholder pensions with Aviva via Cavendish Online. We wife is putting in £240pcm (net), so there were maybe other options, but daughter is at (from memory) £25pcm, so this was the best option.

CannySaver_2

Hi

At those levels of contribution Stakeholder could well work out to be cost effective, not sure if a PP can match a Stakeholders charges at those levels of contribution as there are not too many which will take payment of below £100 per month; I could be wrong on this.

If you pay the amount into your existing GPP will your employer match the additional contributions, just a thought, they might not but could be worth checking.

The Canny Saver

dunstonh

General rule of thumb is that anything less than £100 is likely to be stakeholder. Anything above is likely to be personal pension unless there is some other reason which makes it better/worse.

etilico

thx... if I decided to put in £100 or slightly above, what options (funds/providers) should I consider for a personal pension?

etilico

CannySaver wrote: »

Hi

At those levels of contribution Stakeholder could well work out to be cost effective, not sure if a PP can match a Stakeholders charges at those levels of contribution as there are not too many which will take payment of below £100 per month; I could be wrong on this.

If you pay the amount into your existing GPP will your employer match the additional contributions, just a thought, they might not but could be worth checking.

The Canny Saver

Thx for the suggestion - I am checking regarding the possibility to increase my existing scheme, but I am pretty sure the employer wouldn't match. In which case I'd go for a different plan rather than putting all the eggs in the same basket...

Any specific provider I should be considering?

BTW, why are Personal Pensions better than Stakeholder plans?

etilico

gadgetmind wrote: »

For small pensions for wife and daughter, I went with stakeholder pensions with Aviva via Cavendish Online. We wife is putting in £240pcm (net), so there were maybe other options, but daughter is at (from memory) £25pcm, so this was the best option.

I am checking Cavendish online. Seems interesting but I guess it would take few years to offset the initial charge at such a low contribution level...

BTW, how has the Aviva fund done so far? Did you chose the standard one (Balanced management Fund) or did you opt for a different portfolio?

Thx

E

dunstonh

thx... if I decided to put in £100 or slightly above, what options (funds/providers) should I consider for a personal pension?

That is too specific for anyone to answer as it needs more info and it also falls under FSA regulation. If you are going to DIY then you need to DIY. We cant tell you as we dont know anything about you.

BTW, why are Personal Pensions better than Stakeholder plans?

Often cheaper on a like for like basis. Have greater investment options and often more features and options on information supply.

BTW, how has the Aviva fund done so far?

What Aviva fund?

Did you chose the standard one (Balanced management Fund) or did you opt for a different portfolio?

The Aviva stakeholder balanced managed fund isnt great but its exactly what you expect of a balanced managed fund of that cost. The rest of the limited fund range isnt great and not really designed to portfolio plan.

The Aviva PPP is cheaper than the stakeholder for most people (who can make the required contributions).