Pension for a baby

JackRussell

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I think you must be slightly mad.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I won't judge what you consider important in your life if you dont judge others.

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Yes we all want to make life easy for our kids, but a pension? I suppose if you have excessive piles of cash sitting around and nothing to spend it on

Oh there is plenty I COULD spend it on. I could eat out more often, renew my 6mth old standard car with a zoom zoom car. I could even pay for the top level of Sky even though I never watch it. Maybe move house and get 2 extra man cave rooms for and turn one into a gaming room for my friends and supply free beer and BBQs year round? Take more exotic holidays. But why? I was brought up without all of these things and therefore find financial security far better. Wanting and needing are two different things in life.

For the record, I dont have piles of cash sitting round. I invest and always have done, small amounts constantly. In this particular case I am investing in my childs pension.

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

but personally I think you should give money to a charity

You are wrongly presuming I dont regularly donate, via DD, to my chosen charities and have already helped with over $100,000 Kiva donations.

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Perhaps get involved with your kids and teach them that not everyone has the advantages they have. In fact my daughter (and I) are about to run a half marathon in october and have just the fundraising page ready. How about the first months pension contibution?

Bravo! In 4 years I have personally raised over £15,000 for causes close to me by running too. Keep it up! I will happily donate to your cause if you throw some money towards my little ones SIPP?

OK rant over correcting Prothet of Doom on a number of presumtions :j

Why a HL SIPP?
We wanted to have a bit of control. I am not a wisely investor, but have dabbled in shares, gold, wine & art. I feel comfortable(ish) to pick 1 risky investment, 1 sound investment and 2 middle of the road investments - somewhat similar to my own pension investments, but in reality you never know what is safe & what is risky.

How much?
Well, to make the most efficient use of tax rebates we put in £2880 per year, which the government then tops up with an additional £720.

A lot of this came from us buying second hand (prams, toys, cots etc) and we saved ourselves over £12,000 from buying new. Every week we hit local charity shops for clothes after all, at 10mths old, they last weeks and get covered in... well you know what :rotfl:

Why HL?
Yes there are cheaper options, but personally I like HL. The online access is nice, but it could also worry people as you have up to the minute access so you may see it dip as well as rise :eek:

Why a pension?
Everyone is different. We already have a small Share ISA setup for him (we use Nutmeg) and he has a income/trust fund with a few shares in it from Grandparents so he has short term spending when he turns 18 (just hope he's sensible with it), longer term with the income/trust fund so thought the next logical step was to try and get his pension at the level ours it at, but when he turns 18 and not 40. Little less worry for him.

edinburgher

Bravo. I found that post quite offensive in terms of assumptions, I think you've addressed them all very well.

LeadFarmer

Revisiting this thread as I never got around to starting my 11yr old sons pension, as the lump sum I was going to start it with ended up being needed elsewhere, but I'm now ready to start his pension...

Just had to re-read this thread as id forgotten what option I was going to go with, but can see now I was comparing Aviva Stakeholder pension with the Hargreaves Lansdown Junior SIPP.

I've downloaded Hargreave Lansdown Junior SIPP application form and I have just £1k to invest as an initial lump sum, with monthly contributions of £40. Not huge, but better than nothing. I'll be phoning HL when they are next open for business for some advice on completing the application form.

dunstonh

I'll be phoning HL when they are next open for business for some advice on completing the application form.

Today and tomorrow are normal working days.

atush

And dont pick an expensive portfolio. Pick something like a global tracker or multi asset like th Vanguard series. Lower costs mean greatr compounding.

And do it this time, as you are procrastinating?

LeadFarmer

atush wrote: »

And dont pick an expensive portfolio. Pick something like a global tracker or multi asset like th Vanguard series. Lower costs mean greatr compounding.

And do it this time, as you are procrastinating?

Im not entirely sure what the choices are with the Junior SIPP. Is it as simple as low, medium and high risk options?