Advice charges

peaksoft

I have had a drawdown pension for almost four years, and my wife now wants to follow suit with her pension fund, which is only about £38000.
However, although we know the ropes from my own experience of the product, I cannot find any way of applying for one without paying £1,110 (provider-nominated adviser) or £800 (IFA) for "advice".
Paying at least 2% of the pot for advice we do not need is ridiculous.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

TcpnT

More information required.

Where is her pension currently held and what type of pension is it?

What age is she and is she still working?

peaksoft

There are two pots held in defined contribution group pensions adminstered by the successors of Scottish Equitable and the Pru (as mine were).

She is 65 and she is not working.

dunstonh

However, although we know the ropes from my own experience of the product, I cannot find any way of applying for one without paying £1,110 (provider-nominated adviser) or £800 (IFA) for "advice".

Unless the pension has safeguarded benefits, you are not required to use an adviser unless you use a provider that retails their product via an intermediary or IFA.

If you hve no safeguarded benefits and want to DIY then transfer the pension to a DIY provider and dont try and use one that requires an IFA or intermediary.

However, dont assume that DIY products will be cheaper. Some will be but some DIY products are double the cost of the IFA product. So, a small initial fee with lower ongoing charges could be cheaper than no initial fee with higher ongoing charges. The key is to buy the right DIY product

peaksoft

Thanks, but I haven't found a pension provider with a product that I want that will accept me without taking advice.

dunstonh

peaksoft wrote: »

Thanks, but I haven't found a pension provider with a product that I want that will accept me without taking advice.

Who have you tried? (I am going to guess in advance that you have been looking at the intermediary and IFA market rather than the DIY market)

TcpnT

Sounds like you have something quite specific in mind. What exactly is the "product" that you are looking for.

peaksoft

Low-cost completely flexible drawdown.

dunstonh

But which providers have you tried?

peaksoft

Royal London (only deal through intermediary)
LV= (wanted £1100)
Pru (didn't reply)
Aegon (only deal through intermediary)

dunstonh

All four of those are IFA/Intermediary providers. None are geared for the DIY market. You need to focus on the DIY providers if you want to DIY. Forget the intemediary/IFA providers.