short term personal pensions - worth it?

suzie334400

Hi all,
Apologies if this is a double-post - I have checked a few other threads and they weren't quite the topic I was looking for. Feel free to merge if I'm wrong (and point me in the right direction!).

Basically I'm in my mid 20s and have only just left full time education so have yet to have an employee/employer style pension and have paid in total about 8 months of National Insurance. I have managed to save as much as possible over the past few years and my ISA savings are doing OK.

I have my first salaried job...but it's in Germany where international researchers (at my Institute at least) are paid a 'stipend' not a wage. This means I pay no tax but am entitled to no German pension etc. As I not get paid a decent monthly about I would like to think about a pension. However, my contract is likely to only run for 8 months to 1 year. My question is, from the experience you may have, am I best...

1. Setting up a personal pension in the UK and paying into it each month?
- Or are any fees likely to swallow any benefits over 8-12 months?

2. Putting the money in a savings account. Then, when I have an employment-based pension back in the UK either a) paying in the savings as a lump sum (if this is possible) or b) using the savings to pay higher monthly payments into the pension until the savings are transferred.

3. Something else entirely?

A final note, I have used up my ISA limit for this tax year - I was advised that you can't pay into an ISA when registered as living abroad so I filled it before I left. So I cannot use this method to save the money.

I'm also in contact with the pension advisory service in the UK. But it' always nice to get public opinion or recommendations of where else to look for advice.

Thanks in advance!