Choosing a Personal Pension - charges, bid-offer spread; what to consider?

LimeyYank

LimeyYank? Are you a US citizen?

No Ed, the username is hobby related only.

jamesd

LimeyYank wrote: »

• Performance - how do I get a view of this with nothing more than the internet (or do I just trust that a household name should at least be reasonable).
• My level of risk appetite - certainly no more than meduium (whatever that may mean)
• Bid-offer spread - what is this? And what is a reasonable figure.

Those three things in the list are unrelated to the pension firm you use. You pick the funds where your money will be invested, not them. So you can adjust to meet your desires. There are differences in the range of investments available but they are typically large enough not to matter.

Glad that you're not a US person. The IRS makes things much more complicated for those who have to deal with them and could eliminate many of the pension tax advantages.

philwal_2

Just out of interest what company were you looking at with those charges as they seem high.

LimeyYank

Just out of interest what company were you looking at with those charges as they seem high.

It was Standard Life.

philwal_2

Were they standard life funds also or external funds. If you are looking for a basic solution there are lower cost solutions out there.

dunstonh

LimeyYank wrote: »

It was Standard Life.

They are high, even for standard life (who dont typically appear at the cheaper end). How are you buying that pension? via an adviser or direct from Std Life?