What pension planning advice do I need?

Albermarle

ajfielden said:

dunstonh said:

0.79% (including platform charges) is less than an IFA would charge.

No it's not.   

Sorry I have to correct you again there. The brochure I have just been sent by an IFA charges £1000 for a fund worth £100,000+ Now my maths is good enough to work out that is 1%
To be fair, I think now he's a bit pricey, and if I were to use an IFA, I'll shop around a bit more.

From what I have read on this forum , £1000 is relatively cheap for a £100K fund for an IFA.
The restricted stripped down services from the likes of Vanguard, Fidelity , HL etc are not that much cheaper I do not think ?

If the IFA still charged 1% on £500K then it would be expensive of course .

LV_426

Albermarle said:

ajfielden said:

dunstonh said:

0.79% (including platform charges) is less than an IFA would charge.

No it's not.   

Sorry I have to correct you again there. The brochure I have just been sent by an IFA charges £1000 for a fund worth £100,000+ Now my maths is good enough to work out that is 1%
To be fair, I think now he's a bit pricey, and if I were to use an IFA, I'll shop around a bit more.

From what I have read on this forum , £1000 is relatively cheap for a £100K fund for an IFA.
The restricted stripped down services from the likes of Vanguard, Fidelity , HL etc are not that much cheaper I do not think ?

If the IFA still charged 1% on £500K then it would be expensive of course .

Well when you add in the £3k initial charge, you start to question whether it's worth it. I'm tending to think that I can set up something myself that will achieve my plan.

AlanP_2

There is no "one answer" to this.

Some people want to use an adviser and some don't, can't see what the big issue is that gets some people so het up, and I definitely don't see the need for the IFAs that post on here to continually be challenged to justify their existence. 

When somebody comes on here with a query we provide suggestions and ideas to help them with their thinking, all influenced by our expertise, experiences, attitudes and inherent biases.The comments and suggestions of both IFAs and non-IFA contributors enrich that process.

Albermarle

ajfielden said:

Albermarle said:

ajfielden said:

dunstonh said:

0.79% (including platform charges) is less than an IFA would charge.

No it's not.   

Sorry I have to correct you again there. The brochure I have just been sent by an IFA charges £1000 for a fund worth £100,000+ Now my maths is good enough to work out that is 1%
To be fair, I think now he's a bit pricey, and if I were to use an IFA, I'll shop around a bit more.

From what I have read on this forum , £1000 is relatively cheap for a £100K fund for an IFA.
The restricted stripped down services from the likes of Vanguard, Fidelity , HL etc are not that much cheaper I do not think ?

If the IFA still charged 1% on £500K then it would be expensive of course .

Well when you add in the £3k initial charge, you start to question whether it's worth it. I'm tending to think that I can set up something myself that will achieve my plan.

OK the thread has got quite long and I forgot about that bit .
So yes £3K seems a lot for an initial charge on £100K

LV_426

When is Mr. Lewis going to turn up here and offer advice?
Does he ever?

coyrls

ajfielden said:

When is Mr. Lewis going to turn up here and offer advice?
Does he ever?

No, why did you think he would?

Albermarle

ajfielden said:

When is Mr. Lewis going to turn up here and offer advice?
Does he ever?

Nobody on this forum offers advice ( you have to pay £3k for that 

LV_426

coyrls said:

ajfielden said:

When is Mr. Lewis going to turn up here and offer advice?
Does he ever?

No, why did you think he would?

Of course not I was joking.

cfw1994

ajfielden said:

Albermarle said:

ajfielden said:

dunstonh said:

0.79% (including platform charges) is less than an IFA would charge.

No it's not.   

Sorry I have to correct you again there. The brochure I have just been sent by an IFA charges £1000 for a fund worth £100,000+ Now my maths is good enough to work out that is 1%
To be fair, I think now he's a bit pricey, and if I were to use an IFA, I'll shop around a bit more.

From what I have read on this forum , £1000 is relatively cheap for a £100K fund for an IFA.
The restricted stripped down services from the likes of Vanguard, Fidelity , HL etc are not that much cheaper I do not think ?

If the IFA still charged 1% on £500K then it would be expensive of course .

Well when you add in the £3k initial charge, you start to question whether it's worth it. I'm tending to think that I can set up something myself that will achieve my plan.

One thing to always bear in mind: you don't have to pick The Best Funds.   
"Top" fund managers will rarely manage that for more than a couple of years in a row.
Being absolutely average is okay!

Understanding what you are invested in, and why, is important.   As you get more knowledgable, perhaps you 'spread your risk' around more areas.   Or not - plenty are happy with just a 'global tracker'!

It isn't a race to 'earn the most' in your investments.

Have to say I do find it odd when the generally very sound @dunstonh states "the better performance is just a nice addition" in his reply above.   
I find it somewhat.....sniffy....frothy....100% a 'sales puff', as my distant faintly legal background might have put it.   
If someone claims to be able to make you more money than any respected fund, you should probably run a mile!

There is little proof that paying an IFA to manage your money will make any more money that you could dropping it into a LS60, LS80 or any other funds you could usefully investigate for yourself. 
That is perhaps what many learn after a while on this forum, picking through a few good threads.

The one thing we have often seen is how well IFAs can earn money....for themselves.  
Remember they make money from whatever they manage of yours EVEN IF the markets plummet - if they take even the average 0.5% we are sometimes told, a pot of 500K earns them £2.5k pa.  If your pot drops by 40% (as IFAs may sometimes scare you into worrying about - hey, it could happen!!), then your pot is now £300k.....but they still get £1.5k that year regardless.   

Good luck making your decisions.  By all means, do critically interview a few IFAs to get a feel for what THEY think they can do for you.  

dunstonh

Have to say I do find it odd when the generally very sound @dunstonh states "the better performance is just a nice addition" in his reply above.   
I find it somewhat.....sniffy....frothy....100% a 'sales puff', as my distant faintly legal background might have put it.   
If someone claims to be able to make you more money than any respected fund, you should probably run a mile!

It doesn't matter what I say.  Someone just seems to take offence about it.  The fact is that our model portfolios have consistently outperformed VLS, net of charges, for over 5 years.    There is this strange mentality that some people cannot believe that there are potentially better options than VLS.

And it's not just IFAs.  There are plenty of DIY investors beating VLS as well.

Future returns are unknown.  No-one knows in advance what will be best.   No-one should guarantee an option is better than another.  However, this downright refusal to accept that people can hold alternative investments to VLS and do better than VLS is very strange.