I work Freelance, have no pension and no understanding of how to start one! Please help.

frobyn

Hi all,

I am a freelancer and have a varied income. I am quite concerned that I have no pension at all. I spoke to a financial adviser who said that they take half of whatever I put in for a year as payment towards finding the right pension for me. I am not sure if that is right or wrong. I essentially have no clue what I am doing and doing want to end up putting my money somewhere where I could end up loosing it!

Any help on where to start would be great.

Thanks in advance

MallyGirl

That would be wrong.

Maybe try and find an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA). The 'I' bit is very important

Albermarle

Try reading these:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount-pensions/
https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/retirement-choices
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/categories/pensions-and-retirement

LHW99

First find out what your state pension entitlement will be
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension
That will tell you a) what you have so far and b) how many more years you need to contribute to get a full SP.
If you have gaps due to not paying enough NI, look at buying some of the missing years, but be careful - pre-2016 years may not help now.


Then, have you any savings at all? You need an emergency fund, so think about that first. Regular savers are good to build up in, and read some of the threads on the savings board.
If you want to start a pension, you can put in up to your (net) earned income and get tax relief back. A personal pension can be good to start.
IFA's are useful, but expensive if you only have a small fund.

xylophone

DIY Pensions: A Simple Guide to Pensions, SIPPs & Retirement Planning, by John Edwards.

Do you have your own limited company?

https://www.pensionbee.com/pensions-explained/pension-contributions/contributing-to-your-pension-from-your-limited-company?ast=nJ36l2

https://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

https://monevator.com/low-cost-index-trackers/

A simple stakeholder might do to start off.

https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/stakeholder-pensions/