Pension investment choice?

pamaris

Hi,

My DH has a personal pension with Scottishlife that he took out about 8 years ago. We left the UK 4 years ago and have not paid any contributions since. It can be transferred but regular contributions are no longer allowed. Currently it has about £5700 in it. He is 38 and does not plan on retiring early; no illusions there. I am 30 and do not earn an income.

Currently the Scottishlife pension is invested in the "UK Equity Pension Fund" under the "Balanced Retirement Investment strategy". Does this sound appropriate? The fees for all the fund choices are 1%. Is anyone familiar with this plan? It doesn't say if the UK Equity fund is an index, but it follows the FTSE all share very closely.

My other question is, DH is currently "contracted out" of S2P. Does this sound right considering the situation? DH makes 30k. He will be enrolling in his company pension with his new job. Should he stay "contracted out"?

This ScottishLife fund is the extent of our retirement savings so far, but we plan to be very committed from here on out.

Thank you

Penny

dunstonh

Currently the Scottishlife pension is invested in the "UK Equity Pension Fund" under the "Balanced Retirement Investment strategy". Does this sound appropriate?

Single fund investing is rarely appropriate. Its old fashioned investing and will result in lower returns over the long term. Scot Life will offer a wider fund range and you can build a portfolio with what is available.

Is anyone familiar with this plan?

Is it a Talisman version or one of their other branded pensions?

My other question is, DH is currently "contracted out" of S2P. Does this sound right considering the situation? DH makes 30k. He will be enrolling in his company pension with his new job. Should he stay "contracted out"?

If you havent been in the UK it makes no difference. He is contracted out on paper but no rebates have been going into it as he would have to be paying NI for that to happen.

DH makes 30k. He will be enrolling in his company pension with his new job. Should he stay "contracted out"?

Is this back in the UK or overseas?

pamaris

Yes... it is a Talisman Personal Pension.

Sorry, failed to mention that we are back in the UK for good. I was wondering whether he should be contracted out of S2P from here on out (for his new pension), or contract back in?

Thanks

Penny

dunstonh

Is the new occ scheme contracted in or out? (it will say in the docs)

pamaris

He's not signed up for the new scheme yet (He will after his 6 month probationary period ends). It is a defined contribution personal pension scheme; he will be paying 6% and company will pay 5%. I think he will have to choose at the time he joins whether to be contracted in or out.

dunstonh

Sounds like a group personal pension. In which case it may or may not be contracted out but the choice applies.

Contracting in or out is not an easy decision. Both carries an element of risk and both have pros and cons (for example, contracting out may not pay as much income as contracting in. However, you can take benefits from contracting out from age 55 onwards but contracting in from state retirement age. Contracted out allows 25% lump sum of the value. Contracted in doesnt).

The serps sticky thread at the top of the forum may help (work backwards as a lot of the changes on contracting out happened in the last year).