Pension advice needed.

Cpcompany

First time poster and I am looking for some pension/saving advice from the knowledgeable posters on the board.

My situation is this.

I just turned 36, and I have returned to the UK after working in Japan for 9 years. In this time I havent paid a pension and only paid in for approximately 5 years in the period of graduating university and moving abroad.

I currently have a full ISA which I opened just before the financial year end, so I am eligible to open another one this year. I have approximately 1000 in my current account.

I am working in London, currently part time on 7 pound an hour and due to start another job at the end of the month for 10 an hour. Not much by London standards but I have to say its been quite an eye opener seeing how bad the economy is and the lack of jobs. I have only had 1 interview (The job I got) after applying for approximately 50 jobs.

I cant work weekends as I am doing a 30 week BTEC on Saturday and Sunday.

Fortunately, my rent is only 390 a month, I take my own lunches to work and apart from the gym (6 month membership is paid already) and wheeling and dealing on synthesizers I am pretty good at keeping hold of my money.

So, what private pensions would anyone advise me to take a look at?

Also, would you recommend starting a new ISA and paying in whatever I save? I am strongly considering the long term options that Halifax offer.

Sorry that its such a long post but I thought it would be best to put in a lot of detail to get the info that suits me best.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

RosieBee_2

Hi,

it might not be a bad idea to look at some comparison sites for the kind of pension you are after. heres one site and heres another.

This will atleast provide an indication of what is around and what you might prefer.

I hope this helps

xylophone

I would certainly start a new ISA for the current tax year.
http://www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts/cash-isas.htm
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/Companyandpersonalpensions/Startingacompanyorpersonalpension/DG_183722
http://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/personal-pensions/ might be worth a look.
http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2012/05/09/queens-speech-outlines-pension-changes/

Cpcompany

Thanks for the advice.

Just found out my second job is a scam and have been ripped off for 50 quid.
In my desperation for the job I sent off the Ukash voucher without thinking. Something I could have done without.

mgdavid

conventional wisdom is you should save and keep 3 to 6 months living expenses tucked away but handy for emergencies / unemployment etc before considering other forms of saving.

PS - sorry to hear about the scam - be careful !

atush

I am with mgdavid, fill this year's cash isa unitl you have 6 months of spending saved. Then look into pensions and other longer term savings.

Did you come back from Japan with cash in the bank? Many expats do (we did). You could invest some of this, or keep filling ISAs unitl it is out of a taxed environment.

Do take care when looking for work- anything that asks you to put in money is quite likely a scam. And good luck.

Cpcompany

atush wrote: »

I am with mgdavid, fill this year's cash isa unitl you have 6 months of spending saved. Then look into pensions and other longer term savings.

Did you come back from Japan with cash in the bank? Many expats do (we did). You could invest some of this, or keep filling ISAs unitl it is out of a taxed environment.

Do take care when looking for work- anything that asks you to put in money is quite likely a scam. And good luck.

Yeah. I came back with about 10000. Spent some on a Btec music course and moving to London and not getting a job for a few weeks took a bit of cash up.
Put 5400 into a Barclays ISA and have about a grand in my current account. So overall I didnt do that badly considering I wasnt saving that hard.

Possibly looking at starting a new ISA now but wont be able to pump much into it until I get a 2nd part time job.

I could be inline for some insurance money very soon as my house in Japan had a huge flooding problem (Not my fault) two days before I moved out.

Cpcompany

Barclays were Advertising this years cash ISA on my online banking, Unfortunately I didnt open my last ISA in last years cut off time. So I cant open another one unfortunately.