stakeholder pension

hostertlady

I took out a stakeholder pension with clerical medical( now part of Scottish widows) December 2002... because this was what I was advised to do at the time... the monthly payments have always been just over £100...
i just pay my monthly payments and i receive paperwork telling me what the fund is worth..
but with all this talk about pensions lately I have no idea whether to keep this going or not?
to be honest, i have never really understood it, i know that i paid some and the government? paid the tax?


i don't think they are sold now. so would i be better off cashing it in( if i can) and then what? invest?


see, i told you i have no idea...................

Linton

err if your fund is in a stakeholder pension it is invested. Why do you think an investment outside your pension would be any better?

Suggest you find out how well your pension has performed over the past 12 years, what funds it is invested in and what the charges are. The fund choice could possibly be improved, it may be possible to find a better value pension provider, it may be possible to merge your stakeholder with an employers pension, but simply taking your money out of the pension wont of itself achieve anything.

Whether you can "cash it in" depends on how old you are. You need to be 55 or more to get any access to the money.

worried_jim

I paid just under £3k into a company pension from 1991 to 1999. Its worth over £43k today. I love pensions and have nearly £100k invested in them now and I am still 25 years away from retirement, keep saving, it gets pretty sexy after a few years.

hostertlady

i am 56......
it was just a question really as i am going through all my paperwork trying to get my affairs in order...
so basically it's best just to leave it alone?

hostertlady

worried_jim wrote: »

I paid just under £3k into a company pension from 1991 to 1999. Its worth over £43k today. I love pensions and have nearly £100k invested in them now and I am still 25 years away from retirement, keep saving, it gets pretty sexy after a few years.

really? £3k has turned into that much??
blimey charlie

kidmugsy

hostertlady wrote: »

really? £3k has turned into that much??
blimey charlie

The tax relief will have gone in, plus I dare say he got an employer's contribution too.

Linton

kidmugsy wrote: »

The tax relief will have gone in, plus I dare say he got an employer's contribution too.

Even with these taken into account £3K to £43K since (on average) 1995 looks pretty good or a very generous employers contribution. The FTSE100 total return index has only increased by a factor of around 3.5 in that period.

Perhaps the author of the figures will enlighten us.

mgdavid

hostertlady wrote: »

..........
so basically it's best just to leave it alone?

er, no.
That's not what you were advised in the post directly above.
"Suggest you find out how well your pension has performed over the past 12 years, what funds it is invested in and what the charges are........."

You should/will be getting annual statements, what does the latest one say?

worried_jim

Linton wrote: »

Even with these taken into account £3K to £43K since (on average) 1995 looks pretty good or a very generous employers contribution. The FTSE100 total return index has only increased by a factor of around 3.5 in that period.

Perhaps the author of the figures will enlighten us.

So in the 90's I paid in myself £2784.15 (starting salary in 1991 £8.5k). Fund value is £31,614. I am being offerd an additional £11,948 if I transfer to another provider (which I am doing). Which will give a total fund value of £43,562.

xylophone

I took out a stakeholder pension with clerical medical( now part of Scottish widows) December 2002... because this was what I was advised to do at the time... the monthly payments have always been just over £100...

Advised by? In what circumstances?

What other pension provision do you have?

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301563/Pensions_fact_sheet_v8.pdf

Re state pension https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/overview

Archi_Bald

If you cashed that pension in now, what would be your plans for the money? What would you be living off when you retire?

Why would you cash in if the performance has been very good? Do you have reason to believe you can find substiantially better than the 2 funds you are presently invested in?

http://www.trustnet.com/Tools/Charting.aspx?typeCode=P_FLGECA1,XP:SP,

http://www.trustnet.com/Tools/Charting.aspx?typeCode=P_FI8JJ,XP:BAL,