Private pension headache

jeremydillon

Hi i am 54 years old and have recently stopped payments into my aviva stakeholder pension, its current value is £50.000 , i was paying £200 a month . Over the last few years the fund lost more than i was paying in. LAST YEAR ALONE £4000
I know very little about pensions and would really appreciate any advice.
The funds i have are
av property s2
av european equity s2
av pacific equity s2
av uk index tracking s2
these funds were selected by a financial advisor whose advice i sought.
What i would like to know is do i just leave it as it is and hope for the best, select new funds, if so who can i trust to give me unbiased advice?
And should i start up my payments again, which im reluctant to do given the present market situation.
At the moment i am putting my £200 a savings account.
Can anyone help ??

jem16

jeremydillon wrote: »

And should i start up my payments again, which im reluctant to do given the present market situation.

Yes you should. This is the best time to be buying after a fall.

soperman

The advice you request is so difficult to dispense on this board as it is so subjective. Each adviser on here will have his or her own thoughts.

However, have you talked this through with your adviser. If not go back and seek a meeting. He should explain the various 'hold' or 'switch' options and will review your investment time horizon i.e the dates you wish and expect to retire and your risk appetite.

Also ask the adviser to determine if the pension or ISA route is more suited to your circumstances both now and post-retirement.

dunstonh

Over the last few years the fund lost more than i was paying in. LAST YEAR ALONE £4000

Nothing wrong with that. You cant take the zigs without the zags.

And should i start up my payments again, which im reluctant to do given the present market situation.

The present market situation (and the years after the credit crunch started) were great periods for paying in money. Volatility is great news for regular contributions unless you are close to maturity. People buying equities this month are buying them around 12% lower than the recent high points. So, when they go back up again, it is the ones bought when the price is low that go onto make the most money.

if you wait until it goes back up then you buy them at a higher price. its like buying after a sale.

jeremydillon

Thanks for the advice much appreciated this policy is due to pay out in 2018, 6 years does nt seem a long time for the markets to change.
all i see is putting in another £18.000 and maybe loosing £24.000. maybe im missing something.
I will have a meeting with an adviser though.

somethingcorporate

No-one can predict accurately where we will be in 6 years but buying when assets have recently fallen in value is often decent advice.

Unfortunately we can only tell the bottom when we are coming out of it (and it may only be a step on a general downward trend). Even a dead cat bounces!

jem16

jasonhayles wrote: »

Something is better than nothing the government will be giving you 22% on every penny you put into your pension

That depends on current tax status which could be 20%, 40% or 50%.

atush

I think the reason your funds fell so much, was because of what they were invested in. Property and eurostocks haven't exactly been doing well lately.

Obv markets have been down heavily globally since the credit crunch (although there are have good recovery periods too). But as said above, had you continued to invest, you would have bought mroe units/shares when prices were low which would have magnified gains during recovery periods. It is called Pound Cost Averaging.

When markets are plunging it can be scary- but that is a good time to invest as you can pick up good quality shares and funds on the cheap. AS market falls tends to bring down good shares along with the bad or mediocre.

So keep investing I say, but you may wont to invest new funds in different funds. And think globally.

For instance, the 3 best countries for growth in the markets last year were not the perennial favourites of China india and Brazil. But they were Indonesia, Qatar, and the USA.

oldtoolie

Conventional wisdom is to move into more fixed income and defensive shares as you get older and approach retirement.

So in your shoes I would rebalance my portfolio to lower the risk and continue investing.

SeniorSam

If you can, consider moving your funds to life funds, if they are not there already. I have a SIPP with a Bond and took time to study the performance of life funds and selected INV PERP CORP BOND ACC, INV PERP DIST FUND ACC, INV PERP HIGH INCOME ACC and SKANDIA GLOBAL BEST IDEAS ACC. Only the Skandia Global Best Ideas made a small loss, but that fund is already starting to perform and overall I made 10% growth in the last year. Take a look at funds and discuss with your adviser.

Sam