Cheapest SIPP provider for non-earner

zolablue25

Hi


My wife is currently not working but I'd like to pay into a pension for her up to the £2880 limit. She will be starting from scratch and is 53. I know that this is little and late but I figure we can't do anything about what has happened and can only focus on things going forward.


I would like to maximise the amount in her account by minimising fees. I can pay the full amount in one lump sum and I intend to use the SIPP for funds - probably just a single Vanguard LS fund.


Hopefully I have been able to give enough information to people that they will be able to offer some help as to the best way to proceed.


Thanks for taking the time to read and, hopefully, respond.


Edit: Forgot to mention, she is hoping to go back in to work, probably part-time, towards the end of next year. I'm not sure how this will go though (many health issues) so, for now, I am focussing on her being not at work

Thrugelmir

Is a SIPP the most appropriate product given the amount to be contributed?

AnotherJoe

If you use an EFT or an IT instead of a fund, HL will be one of the cheapest.
Otherwise search in here for Snowmans spreadsheet which looks at all the various costs and tells you who will be cheapest.If you are going to definitely buy Vanguard then I'd wait a while and see if Vanguards proposed SIPP appears, rumours were it would be late this year.

MK62

You'll not often hear this, but currently, it's probably going to be Hargreaves Lansdown, believe it or not.


A couple of others may be slightly cheaper on the face of it, but they carry withdrawal fees, and so any saving you might make would be gone once you start withdrawing.
Likewise using the cheaper ones then switching at withdrawal time won't work either - they'll get you with exit charges.

zolablue25

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Is a SIPP the most appropriate product given the amount to be contributed?

I don't know. What would be more suitable?

zolablue25

AnotherJoe wrote: »

If you use an EFT or an IT instead of a fund, HL will be one of the cheapest.
Otherwise search in here for Snowmans spreadsheet which looks at all the various costs and tells you who will be cheapest.If you are going to definitely buy Vanguard then I'd wait a while and see if Vanguards proposed SIPP appears, rumours were it would be late this year.

I had read that Vanguard were planning on launching their own. I was just concerned that, as I had heard no recent news, it may not appear and every day I wait is a day lost.

nrsql

You could open one with hl now then transfer it later.
I think hl has a min 1 year before transferring without fees - but you could start the Vanguard one and wait before transferring.

You would want to see what the Vanguard conditions are anyway - and I would wait a bit to see how well it is run and whether they can cope with the initial traffic.

dunstonh

A stakeholder pension may be more suitable to begin with.

zolablue25

dunstonh wrote: »

A stakeholder pension may be more suitable to begin with.

Thank you for the suggestion. I hadn't really considered these until now so have only done a brief Google search. This seems to imply that a stakeholder pension has higher charges than a low cost SIPP. I have to admit that most Google results for personal pensions are for SIPPs - are stakeholder pensins not a popular product?



Also, it didn't appear that I could put a lump sum in to a stakeholder for this tax year's contribution. Happy to go monthly for next year (or lump sum if it is better) but want to max out the contribution for this year


Thanks again everyone for you input. This is exactly the reason that I put my question up - so I could benefit from suggestions for options I hadn't consideder (or even realised were available)

dunstonh

This seems to imply that a stakeholder pension has higher charges than a low cost SIPP.

You can get stakeholders with charges of 0.5% with £1 plus. How much is this low cost SIPP (including all costs, not just the SIPP charges).

are stakeholder pensins not a popular product?

not any more. They are niche nowadays. Mainly for people using small amounts or wanting simplicity.

Also, it didn't appear that I could put a lump sum in to a stakeholder for this tax year's contribution. Happy to go monthly for next year (or lump sum if it is better) but want to max out the contribution for this year

Stakeholder pensions have the most flexible methods of payment of all. regular or ad-hoc.

zolablue25

Thanks dunstonh. I'll have to have a better search for providers.