Pru with profits to contribute or not?

Jetmarmite

Hi just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction.  I have a Pru with profits pension which I've had since 1989 (currently aged 52).  I was originally misadvised to take out this pension (should have gone into my company one) and ended up being compensated back in about 2002.  I have not put any money into this pension for many many years as I have been a stay at home Mum and it has been growing fairly well (barring last year when it hardly moved!).  I now want to start contributing  a very small amount (£2880 I believe is the max with the tax top up bringing it to £3600).  I have a small final salary pension and will buy a couple of years state pension which should get me a full state pension at 67.  My husband would like to retire in 5.5 years time and we would probably use the pru pension towards our income (so currently planning that we would transfer it to a drawdown at 57 ish and transfer his DC pot into a drawdown as well).  I am aware that with profits fund not necessarily the greatest product but does have it's place and as it was very different from my husband's DC scheme, so it seemed a good idea to keep the with Pru with profits pension and keep monitoring it as it seemed to be doing very nicely.

Three questions

1. Is it adviseable to transfer my Pru with profits to a SIPP and start contributing to a SIPP - as the charges are less?

2. Is it adviseable to leave it in the Pru and put my new contributions into that, my concern is charges are quite high although the MVR is currently 0 so I could transfer it out at a later date (annual management charge last year was £1764)?

3.  Should I keep the Pru as it is and set up a SIPP for the new contributions, I would be paying extra charges on the SIPP and I would be making small contributions and I might be charged exit fees later to put the money in drawdown scheme, so not sure whether it is a good idea or not?

Would be grateful for any thoughts on the above.

Many Thanks

Andrew31

Will Pru allow you to contribute to the plan, some plans they dont?  
Which with profits fund are you in?
What is your attitude to investment Risk.
What are the values of the other plans above?
what income do you need in retirement?
the charges on a WP are not normally disclosed as they are pooled investments.  What is the value of the plan and what is the bonus rate?

Generally the Pru WP fund us a good option for a cautious investor, but will depend on many other factors!

SonOf

1. Is it adviseable to transfer my Pru with profits to a SIPP and start contributing to a SIPP - as the charges are less?
Sipps do not have the same sort of investment available. So, irrespective of charges, you cannot get similar.  Charges are a secondary concern and not the primary concern.  
2. Is it adviseable to leave it in the Pru and put my new contributions into that, my concern is charges are quite high although the MVR is currently 0 so I could transfer it out at a later date (annual management charge last year was £1764)?
How high are these charges?  Many Pru pensions from that era had charges that reflected that era but in 2001 they reduced the charges to be no higher than 1%.

3.  Should I keep the Pru as it is and set up a SIPP for the new contributions, I would be paying extra charges on the SIPP and I would be making small contributions and I might be charged exit fees later to put the money in drawdown scheme, so not sure whether it is a good idea or not?
Maybe but it would depend on a range of things.   You mention exit charges but most providers/platforms do not have an exit charge but if they do, that would be part of your research in deciding provider.   Most do not charge drawdown charges either. But some do.  However, the same applies to all charges in that it forms part of your research.

Jetmarmite

Many thanks for your reply and help
Will Pru allow you to contribute to the plan, some plans they dont?  yes they will
Which with profits fund are you in?  Pru personal pension invested in pru with profits fund - literature doesn't tell me much else so I may need to phone them for more specifics - seems to be wide range of equities, cash, property, bonds etc
What is your attitude to investment Risk. moderate - original thoughts were to keep pru as thought it was less volatile than husband's DC fund so felt we were spreading our risk

What are the values of the other plans above? Pru Fund £192k  Final Salary £7858 at 65 (inflation linked) State Pension £8700 at 67

Husband has £423k DC and paying in £13k+ a year and Final Salary 14k (inflation linked) at 65 and State Pension of £9500 at 67 (I would be 63)

what income do you need in retirement?  I'm looking for around 50k a year, in later retirement we have about 38k guaranteed when hubby is 71, but it's the early part of retirement I'm working on.  In later years we could downsize if we ran out of money.
the charges on a WP are not normally disclosed as they are pooled investments.  What is the value of the plan and what is the bonus rate? Value of plan £192k Bonus rate 2018 1.5% and 2019 2.5%  AMC is 0.93% they mention other charges but as you say these are not clear on literature and I think vary year to year as it's WP

Generally the Pru WP fund us a good option for a cautious investor, but will depend on many other factors!