Looking to move my stakeholder pension to a SIPP

jimmyhurr

I'm 45 and have a basic stakeholder pension that has been passed around between providers (was originally a Nationwide fund now managed by Link Fund Solutions). It is 80% in equities and 20% in bonds that I have been paying into for around 16 years. The last annual statement from April '21 shows approx. £110k in the fund. Payments are monthly from salaried income and increase 5% every year.

I am also a company director and have recently been trying to change the payments to pay in additionally from my ltd company to offset corporation tax (which I should have done a long time ago). However, the pension management company will only communicate by letter and paper forms. A recent simple enquiry took over a month - pretty frustrating.

I feel like I have let the status quo go on for far too long and would now like to take a bit more responsibility for my pension with the aim of being able to manage it online and also potentially achieving better returns. I am therefore looking at transferring to a SIPP, possibly something from the low cost platforms like ii and Vanguard, investing in some of the simple life funds. Comparing my current pension funds with the Vanguard 80% Life (as an example) shows quite a difference in return over this period (but I know that past performance is no indicator of future performance!).

Does anyone have experience of moving from a basic stakeholder pension to a SIPP and can offer some encouragement/advice, or things to watch out for - fees or otherwise?
thanks.

xylophone

Discussed here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5971348/transfer-stakeholder-to-sipp

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5959788/transferring-stakeholder-to-sipp



The transfer from one to another should be the easy part - the receiving scheme does the work for you.

Examples

https://www.youinvest.co.uk/faq/can-i-transfer-existing-pension-sipp

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/transfer/pension/


The link below may be helpful.

https://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for-your-future/pensions/the-best-cheapest-sipps-low-cost-diy-pensions

More reading

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

This book has been recommended on the forum and I notice from recent reviews that even though published four years back, people are still finding it a useful guide.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/DIY-Pensions-Simple-Retirement-Planning/dp/1520782683/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_1285150262?_encoding=UTF8&hvadid=310737150369&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044976&hvnetw=g&hvpone=&hvpos=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvrand=606906506923600598&hvtargid=pla-659890783666&ie=UTF8&linkCode=df0&psc=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&th=1

https://www.unbiased.co.uk/life/small-business/contributing-to-your-pension-via-a-limited-company-explained