Please point me in the right direction!

cloud_dog

Oh_No wrote: »

Afterthought, it also sounds like it would be better for me to contribute more to my company pension than bother with a SIPP for myself. Would I have that correct?

See above post but, it may make sense to utilise your wife's allowance and place any additional contributions in to a LISA in her name.

webnibbler

Oh_No wrote: »

Afterthought, it also sounds like it would be better for me to contribute more to my company pension than bother with a SIPP for myself. Would I have that correct?

Yes. SIPPs are really for when you want a broader range of investment options over simpler pension products. They generally tend to be more expensive. A decent company pension should provide most people what they need.

A basic rule of thumb is to be contributing half your age as a percentage so you would want to be looking at moving towards 20% contribution.

MaxiRobriguez

The rule is to be contributing half your age when you start.

Our friendly OP has already started, and is paying in 7% which is matched, so 14% in total. If he's done this since age 28 then the rule says he doesn't need to up his pension contribution (although he should, as it's in his interest to do so).

cloud_dog

MaxiRobriguez wrote: »

The rule is to be contributing half your age when you start.

Our friendly OP has already started, and is paying in 7% which is matched, so 14% in total. If he's done this since age 28 then the rule says he doesn't need to up his pension contribution (although he should, as it's in his interest to do so).

I would argue that it is in his best interest to consider their retirement position holistically.

The OP hasn't commented on his wife's pension position so we can only guess but it might be financially beneficial to them (assuming they will stay together) to ensure they utilise her investment opportunities so as to mitigate taxation when drawing.

Albermarle

My work pension is a smart DC pension scheme which is worth about £60k right now (I have no idea if that is ok, bad or good).

As already mentioned you can not just look at one figure , you have to look at your total family financial position.
However putting that rider aside, £60K would be good at age 30 but poor at age 50 and if you retired at say 60 with £60K , it would provide a pension of around £200 a month .

DrSyn

Oh_No wrote: »

DrSyn - I looked at the ETFs you linked, they look a bit like individual shares. Is that how they work? I just buy what I want but they are in fact a 'share' in a fund?


I took a look at Vanguard and the HSBC options you mentioned. I like the HSBC 'Dynamic' option. Is a fee of 0.48% per annum competitive? Vanguard quote ranges but its difficult to tell how much it would cost me if that makes sense?

You have got the basic idea. ETF stands for Electronically Traded Funds. You know the price of the ETF when you place the buy or sell order. With an OEIC or unit trust this does not happen.

To the best of my knowledge their are no ETF's that are domiciled in the UK. Both of the ones I mentioned are domiciled in Ireland. What effect this will have after BREXIT remains to be seen.

I suggest you stick to the major indexes and ETF providers if you get an ETF.

Trustnet shows HSBC Global Strategy Dynamic Portfolio C Acc having an OCF of 0.2%. I do not recognise the 0.48% you quote. Perhaps you would give your source, we may be not thinking of the same group of funds.

bowlhead99

DrSyn wrote: »

You have got the basic idea. ETF stands for Electronically Traded Funds. You know the price of the ETF when you place the buy or sell order. With an OEIC or unit trust this does not happen.

To avoid confusion over language here, ETF is Exchange Traded Fund (not 'electronically').

You do have the right idea - it's an investment fund bought and sold on a stock exchange at a market price just like a share in Tesco or BP or Microsoft would be bought on the stock exchange.

Trustnet shows HSBC Global Strategy Dynamic Portfolio C Acc having an OCF of 0.2%. I do not recognise the 0.48% you quote. Perhaps you would give your source, we may be not thinking of the same group of funds.

The fund's projected ongoing charges figure is 0.20% (essentially its estimated running costs at its current size) but it also has 'transaction costs' estimated at 0.03% a year (money that it projects that it will perhaps spend buying and selling the underlying holdings in its portfolio over the course of a year).

Both those two numbers (OCF and transaction costs) are estimates but the latter is less reliable/consistent when making comparisons between funds. The OCF itself is fine in comparison with other rivals.

So that's officially 0.23% so far (the cost is paid out of the funds assets and so automatically borne between all its investors in proportion to their holdings), and then separately if you buy the fund direct from HSBC's Global Investment Centre you will pay to the HSBC GIC a platform charge of 0.25% of the average value of your assets per year, for them administering your account and providing access to the fund.

In total, on a factsheet produced by HSBC's GIC fund shop it would show 0.48% and itemise out the above three components.

You don't need to buy it from HSBC direct, and could buy it instead via someone else's fund shop (investment platform), and then the platform charges may be higher or lower - e.g. some with percentage-based-fees may be higher than the 0.25%, while some have fixed costs of £x per year or £y per purchase or sale etc.

Oh_No

Hi again.


Thanks again for the replies, responses below:


Clooud dog - yes by future i do mean retirement. I have an emergency cash fund which should cover all likely eventualities including being out for work for up to a year.


My wife's pension position is that she has one from her employer, when she enquired about contributing more to it she frankly got a load of abuse so is unwilling to raise it again (small company with small company mentality)


Albermarle - sound like my pot is in an ok position but would not hurt being improved. I am about to do the classic OP thing and provide additional information now; I do have another pension from when I worked for the MOD, I am not going to move it as it has very good terms / payout for the contribution I made. The reason i include this now is to say that I do therefore have an additional pension income when the time comes which will top up what i already have.

Oh_No

DrSyn wrote: »

You have got the basic idea. ETF stands for Electronically Traded Funds. You know the price of the ETF when you place the buy or sell order. With an OEIC or unit trust this does not happen.

To the best of my knowledge their are no ETF's that are domiciled in the UK. Both of the ones I mentioned are domiciled in Ireland. What effect this will have after BREXIT remains to be seen.

I suggest you stick to the major indexes and ETF providers if you get an ETF.

Trustnet shows HSBC Global Strategy Dynamic Portfolio C Acc having an OCF of 0.2%. I do not recognise the 0.48% you quote. Perhaps you would give your source, we may be not thinking of the same group of funds.

As a below poster mentions, 0.48% is from the HSBC website itself. I had no idea I could invest in the fund though any other platform. See here:
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/isas/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/#dynamic


I think I would stick to a managed portfolio rather than buying EFT stock as this sounds like it would probably end up costing me more / require me to be a bit more active with managing it and i think i prefer to let be managed.

cloud_dog

Oh_No wrote: »

Clooud dog - yes by future i do mean retirement. I have an emergency cash fund which should cover all likely eventualities including being out for work for up to a year.


My wife's pension position is that she has one from her employer, when she enquired about contributing more to it she frankly got a load of abuse so is unwilling to raise it again (small company with small company mentality.

Ok but, what is your wife's retirement position?

You may be making a mistake not using a LISA in your wife's name for some of your available pension money, or by not putting it in pension in her name so as to mitigate tax on the way out.