What questions to ask FA re Company Pension?

buel10

Hi all.
I have had a defined contribution pension with my employer and have had for two years. Tomorrow the Financial Adviser who is dealing with our pension is coming to our work and those who chose to can have a brief meeting with him.
Please can I ask for some advice regarding what questions I should ask him?

Thank you,
B

saver861

buel10 wrote: »

Hi all.
I have had a defined contribution pension with my employer and have had for two years. Tomorrow the Financial Adviser who is dealing with our pension is coming to our work and those who chose to can have a brief meeting with him.
Please can I ask for some advice regarding what questions I should ask him?

Thank you,
B

What do you need to know? It's likely you wont get all your answers tomorrow but you do need to get a comprehensive understanding of your pension so that you can be better placed to make future decisions etc.

Your question suggests you are unclear about your pension and you might well do yourself a favour to clear that up as much as poss.

buel10

I was thinking more of some advice regarding which basic questions would be good to ask in order to get a grasp of the pension.
No other ideas?

bowlhead99

Read the document you were given that explains the main features of the pension, before the meeting. Ask him about things you don't understand.

If you understand it and don't need more information, don't ask for a meeting. If you don't understand it or have specific questions which would help you understand it, ask for an explanation.

dunstonh

buel10 wrote: »

I was thinking more of some advice regarding which basic questions would be good to ask in order to get a grasp of the pension.
No other ideas?

We dont know what you want to know. So, we cant tell you what to ask. What do you want to know about it?

Freecall

dunstonh wrote: »

We dont know what you want to know. So, we cant tell you what to ask. What do you want to know about it?

I imagine that the OP doesn't know what he wants to know.

Remember - there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns etc......




How about 2 questions, the first one trivial :

• Where are my funds invested?

and the second one considerably more involved :

• Are these investments right for me?

That should be a good start.

bigadaj

buel10 wrote: »

Hi all.
I have had a defined contribution pension with my employer and have had for two years. Tomorrow the Financial Adviser who is dealing with our pension is coming to our work and those who chose to can have a brief meeting with him.
Please can I ask for some advice regarding what questions I should ask him?

Thank you,
B

Probably too late now, but simplistically ask him to explain anything you don't understand.

This could be your level of contributions, tax relief, employers contribution, the meaning of projections, the level of risk you have adopted, what would happen if you increase contributions etc etc

Start at the reasonable back level for you and work forwards to the point he says your time is up and the next person comes in.

saver861

Freecall wrote: »

I imagine that the OP doesn't know what he wants to know.

Which is true for many setting out on a new path.

No doubt the OP will get some info from the FA as well as contact details. Today's meeting will inevitably raise more questions than answers.

However, OP now has a starting point from which to work. I would suggest making use of the situation and getting a good understanding of his pension.

jamesd

buel10 wrote: »

I have had a defined contribution pension with my employer and have had for two years. Tomorrow the Financial Adviser who is dealing with our pension is coming to our work and those who chose to can have a brief meeting with him.
Please can I ask for some advice regarding what questions I should ask him?

1. Can I transfer some or all of the money from this pension to another pension while remaining a member, perhaps to get different investments, different charges or to take benefits.

2. If I can't transfer out while remaining a member please confirm that I can transfer out by using the auto-enrolment right to opt out then proceed to opt back in at the next opportunity.

3. What is the default fund and is it appropriate for my risk tolerance, growth objectives and capacity for loss?

4. Assuming historic UK stock market growth rates of about 5% plus inflation for equities and a little less for bonds, how much should I start to pay in for each Pound of extra income above the state pension that I want in retirement from age x, with 100% confidence rate using historic market sequences of returns? For income assume that I will defer the state pension and use capped drawdown drawing 5% plus inflation adjusted with the Guyton and Clinger decision rules and the Guyton sequence of returns risk taming using cyclically adjusted price-earnings ratio. The main bit of this is to say "don't assume I'll throw away much of the money by buying an annuity".

4b. The adviser is unlikely to be able to practically answer that question in the context of this sort of meeting and you probably don't yet understand it. Alternatively ask how much you have to pay in each month today for each Pound of income you want at age x.

buel10

Thank you to jamesd, saver861 and bigadaj, that is exactly what I was after. Personally, I didn't think my question was that ambiguous, and judging from your helpful replies, neither did you.
Very much appreciated, you three. Thank you so much.

saver861

buel10 wrote: »

Thank you to jamesd, saver861 and bigadaj, that is exactly what I was after. Personally, I didn't think my question was that ambiguous, and judging from your helpful replies, neither did you.
Very much appreciated, you three. Thank you so much.

No worries .... it's all good.

Did you get to see the FA and get some useful answers?