Xfer from Virgin Stakeholder

Humanista

Hi all, I know similar questions have been asked previously, but it's still hard to make a decision.

I'm 44, live in Canada and have 32k sitting dormant in a Virgin Stakeholder Pension ("Growth Fund", there's a misnomer for you). I have other, better performing personal pensions, but I'd like to transfer the Virgin Stakeholder into something which will give a little better performance in the 20 years or so it has to run.

Any suggestions? I don't have the time, energy or knowledge to invest in a SIPP, so it would have to be a managed fund of some kind.

stubtoe

Unfortunately, I doubt anyone will be so bold as to suggest exactly where and how you should invest your pension (only financial advisers can really do that), but there's no reason you can't do this yourself.

Are there definitely no suitable funds you could 'switch' into via your existing Virgin pension? You never know, the growth fund might not be too bad, especially given your 20 year investment period. If not, or the fund options are poor, you may want to consider transferring your pension elsewhere. You need to do your own research, but two places you could start are https://www.hl.co.uk and https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk

With a little bit of reading/research it shouldn't be difficult for you to either pick a different fund in your existing plan, or pick funds with a new provider. As good a place as any to start to learn about investing fundamentals is http://monevator.com/ (start with the essential reading links on the right).

As to you living in Canada, are you planning to retire there or back in the UK as there will obviously be other (mainly taxation) consideration issues to address when you do start taking benefits from this pension?

Humanista

Thanks stubtoe. Yes, I will probably retire to Canada ultimately, and I now have a couple of pensions here so my retirement funding is likely to be pretty complicated when it comes to it!

The Virgin Stakeholder is very inflexible, that's one of the reasons I'm looking at transferring. I'll take a look at the two links you provided.

dunstonh

The Virgin Stakeholder is very inflexible, that's one of the reasons I'm looking at transferring.

Granted, the virgin stakeholder is a poor quality product. However, seeing as you want to go into a mutli-asset fund, it would appear that the existing pension is as flexible as you need it to be.