We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Pensions, what to do?

1246789

Comments

  • mvteng
    mvteng Posts: 514 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    OK, thanks. I've been trying to navigate the FP website for performance data on the funds but can't find it.

    Now time for my stupid question.

    £200 is paid direct to FP every month by my employer. This was set up as part of a salary sacrifice to keep me under higher rate tax.

    As the employer is paying direct, is it correct that no tax relief should be applied
  • Neverland
    Neverland Posts: 271 Forumite
    mvteng wrote: »
    Interesting. Correct, current transfer value = £27282

    However, the monthly £200 is paid direct by my company to FP & was set up by the company appointed IFA.

    With this in mind, really I was questioning if the FP funds chosen are still good, or if there are better performing FP funds available

    Before i set up on my own when i was an employee I would just transfer my company fund into my own pension plan every year to avoid paying the charges to the company appointed IFA and fund manager ;)
  • Neverland
    Neverland Posts: 271 Forumite
    dunstonh wrote: »
    Exactly the same principle as the troll is saying you should use although he doesn't appear to realise it.

    Which troll, the IFA troll or the non-IFA troll?
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Lokolo wrote: »
    Where's darkpool nowadays?

    There, you've gone and done it, you've gone and said his name!

    No good will come of this...
    I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.

    Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.
  • Neverland
    Neverland Posts: 271 Forumite
    dunstonh wrote: »
    FP employer pensions are more basic (usually at the request of the employer). They will have a range of funds to suit most basic investors. The managed fund is a portfolio fund that is really designed to follow benchmark. It will never be best but never worst. Exactly the same principle as the troll is saying you should use although he doesn't appear to realise it.

    The crucial difference being the annual charges on the tracker are 1/3 to half the annual charges on the FP managed fund

    This makes a lot of difference when all you can expect on investment returns in 5-6% BEFORE fees year
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    mvteng wrote: »
    £200 is paid direct to FP every month by my employer. This was set up as part of a salary sacrifice to keep me under higher rate tax.

    As the employer is paying direct, is it correct that no tax relief should be applied

    Yes, you're effectively getting full tax relief as the pension contributions are coming straight off your top line.
    I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.

    Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    mvteng wrote: »
    As above, I appreciate that things may change since the pension was first set up, but does the FL pension still seem like good value?

    For personal pensions via Cavendish, FL offer tiered AMCs of between 0.55% and 0.45% depending on pot size.

    1% seems toppy and it's probably worthwhile trying to get this reduced.
    I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.

    Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.
  • Neverland
    Neverland Posts: 271 Forumite
    gadgetmind wrote: »
    For personal pensions via Cavendish, FL offer tiered AMCs of between 0.55% and 0.45% depending on pot size.

    1% seems toppy and it's probably worthwhile trying to get this reduced.

    The difference would be the fees paid to your company's appointed IFA firm

    How much advice are you getting from that 0.5% they are pocketing each year?
  • mvteng
    mvteng Posts: 514 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    edited 13 March 2012 at 2:26PM
    1% seems toppy and it's probably worthwhile trying to get this reduced.

    ok, if I understand Neverland correctly the 1% is approx. 0.5% to the original IFA & the rest to FL direct.

    If so, & as I'm tied to the IFA via my company, what scope do I have to get a reduction on this?
  • Neverland
    Neverland Posts: 271 Forumite
    mvteng wrote: »
    Would I do this direct with FP?

    No, either:

    - get your company to change pension providers (very hard)
    - transfer your company scheme into a low cost personal pension (slightly hard)

    The "pensions industry" makes it all really difficult so they can keep over-charging you
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.2K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 603.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.4K Life & Family
  • 261.3K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.