Mid 50's, not much financial clue, need to sort future? That's me!

SonOf

Well isn't that what these pensions do?

Yes and no.

The pension company is just an administrator for the pension. The investments you select handle the investments. If you self select funds, then you are making the choice. If you pick a multi-asset fund or an investment strategy (such as the Royal London Governed Portfolio) then they handle the invesmtent strategy.

So, with RL, you can self select from their range or you can use their governed portfolios. And you can choose to have lifestyle risk reduction or not and what ages for it to apply.

help50

SonOf wrote: »

Yes and no.

The pension company is just an administrator for the pension. The investments you select handle the investments. If you self select funds, then you are making the choice. If you pick a multi-asset fund or an investment strategy (such as the Royal London Governed Portfolio) then they handle the invesmtent strategy.

So, with RL, you can self select from their range or you can use their governed portfolios. And you can choose to have lifestyle risk reduction or not and what ages for it to apply.

Thanks, yes sorry that was my understanding. I am not self selecting funds but have chosen to go with one of their portfolios, and RL manage that portfolio. As I get nearer retirement, the funds shift to less risky. At the time it was set up, that portfolio was based on a retirement age of 60 and Moderately Adventurous Tracker Lifestyle Strategy. I recognise my retirement age needs to be changed to 65. I guess the other thing is does the Moderately Adventurous Tracker Lifestyle Strategy still make sense?I have no reason to think it doesn't, I don't see much value in getting an IFA to go through a risk questionnaire with me, I think it would come out the same. Moderately adventurous sounds like me. So on that basis maybe the RL pension, once adjusted for retirement date (which should shift some funds into higher risk spread), is fine.

But I am keen to hear from those more expert than me! And in relation to that, where I should be putting more monthly contributions - RL, Standard Life, something else?

Thanks again.

help50

Hi everybody - any tips for me with regard to these two pensions and where I am best putting any further contributions?

Thanks.

Albermarle

Both RL and SL are very similar types of companies/pensions .
The most important thing is are you in the right type of fund/investment within the pension, and that applies equally to both .
You have said what the RL fund is but not the SL one ? so impossible to make a comparison .

help50

Albermarle wrote: »

Both RL and SL are very similar types of companies/pensions .
The most important thing is are you in the right type of fund/investment within the pension, and that applies equally to both .
You have said what the RL fund is but not the SL one ? so impossible to make a comparison .

Ah sorry, with SL there is 90% going into Standard Life Active Plus III Pension Fund and 10% into Standard Life Pre Ret (Active Plus Universal) Pn.
Again it’s been set up that way based on predicted retirement age and attitude to risk and will move automatically to less risk as I get older.

Albermarle

Both the SL and RL funds are similar types , so probably not a huge decision either way . What you could do is check the 10 year performance of each.
Then check the charges ( and any benefit/discounts from holding higher amounts )
Then check that both will support drawdown etc when you get to the retirement stage ( some old pensions do not )
Then you will just have to decide whether to combine them or not .

help50

Albermarle wrote: »

Both the SL and RL funds are similar types , so probably not a huge decision either way . What you could do is check the 10 year performance of each.
Then check the charges ( and any benefit/discounts from holding higher amounts )
Then check that both will support drawdown etc when you get to the retirement stage ( some old pensions do not )
Then you will just have to decide whether to combine them or not .

Thanks. The SL charges are 0.781% each year and it supports drawdown. For RL, charges appear to be 0.66%, and it supports drawdown.
To calculate performance, I looked at difference in value of pension pot between years, then minus the contribution in that year, then minus inflation in that year to get yearly performance:

Last 4 years for RL (% growth), most recent first: 3.29, -0.52, 4.06, 11.85

and for SL: 1.35, -7.88, 21.58, 5.02

Two questions: a) is my method correct? and b) what does it tell me!

thanks.