Pension confusion

atush

Cyberman60 wrote: »

Not difficult though is it, and he may find it fun apart from being a much cheaper option.

Not difficult for you perhaps, but is for many. See the guy with 6K investing who is crying about his fund being down 200 quid lately?

atush

webdigga wrote: »

Yes you are correct I do have a complete lack of knowledge! :-)

My comments were more to do with that I like to feel I have complete control over my finances and I would rather not have small amounts of money in lots of laces that by the time I come to retire I may well have forgotten about. Would much rather have it all in one I can keep checking.

Thanks very much for the replies, I shall do some more reading!

Do put all the pensions in one place and PLEASE never opt out again- even if you were just there for a short time, free money and tax relief are Good things, not bad things?

greenglide

Therefore it would enable me to always have 2 pensions, a personal one and a company one, and each time I move job I have a new pension created and then I transfer the previous companies pension into my personal one, always leaving me with 2 pensions?

You could do that. Employers pension schemes do not have to allow transfers in if they don't wish to, this is the way round it.

In future there are plans to make auto enrolment pensions easier to transfer (pot follows the member) but we are not there yet. See http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/pension-reform/pot-follows-member

webdigga

greenglide wrote: »

You could do that. Employers pension schemes do not have to allow transfers in if they don't wish to, this is the way round it.

In future there are plans to make auto enrolment pensions easier to transfer (pot follows the member) but we are not there yet. See http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/pension-reform/pot-follows-member

That's really useful information, thank you!

Your_Hero

webdigga wrote: »

To be honest I am starting to regret ever having a pension as I would rather that money be in my savings account

This is the wrong mentality and your money is far better in a pension than a savings accounts.

but does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to easily get all this money in one place and also what I can do to prevent all this happening in future.

You must understand that there are strict processes in place for transferring pensions from one provider to another because this is to protect you.

But as greenglide has pointed out, there is a proposed "pot follows member" in the future which should help with smaller pots.

Cyberman60 wrote: »

So why is a SIPP no good for him ? I use one.... is it because commission rates are low... :rotfl:

Can't see how commission is at all relevant in this case?

Cyberman60

atush wrote: »

Not difficult for you perhaps, but is for many. See the guy with 6K investing who is crying about his fund being down 200 quid lately?

Well my fund lost 10K when Gordon Brown stole Northern Rock. Don't invest what you cannot afford to lose. Fortunately my house investment has been a major success.

Cyberman60

atush wrote: »

Do put all the pensions in one place and PLEASE never opt out again- even if you were just there for a short time, free money and tax relief are Good things, not bad things?

Well, I certainly have to agree with that..

kidmugsy

Cyberman60 wrote: »

Well my fund lost 10K when Gordon Brown stole Northern Rock.

It's not often that I defend the lamentable Brown, but that's just silly.

atush

Cyberman60 wrote: »

Well my fund lost 10K when Gordon Brown stole Northern Rock. Don't invest what you cannot afford to lose. Fortunately my house investment has been a major success.

So you lost 10K in norther Rock. And you made money on property. Which generally means luck rather than skill. Unless you are a developer.

So where is all this 'easy' and 'fruitful' experience you have had with investing, so much that you suggest investing to the clueless?