Recommendations for Pension Plan for Wife

BigJRock

Hi, I have a personal pension plan but my wife has no pension plan at all. She is 49 and wants a small plan opening with £400 then £50 month and the plan is to build up a sum (small I realise) to supplement her state pension.

The considerations for the scheme:

1. Easy to set up.

2. Don't want to be making decisions (as in some SIPPS) except maybe level of risk. So can just pay in each month.

3. Low fees.

4. Obviously good track record so growth rate is good.

I've read up a bit but don't know much about this and still none the wiser about which scheme/provider to use.

Please, has anyone any good suggestions?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Before starting on a personal pension it might be prudent for her to check her State Pension details on gov.uk.

She should be able to check her forecast and, more importantly, what she has accrued to date.  This is normally to 5 April 2021 at the moment.

If she isn't going to reach the standard new State Pension by working or receiving NI credits then buying additional years by making voluntary contributions is likely to be much better value than a personal pension.

Once she knows her State Pension position then personal pension is sensible as she can get upto £720 tax relief per year despite paying no tax and may well be able to take the whole lot out as a pension without paying any tax then either.

When choosing a pension she needs to separate the wrapper from the funds she will invest in as it is the fund that makes the money.

Alexland

The legal and general SIPP is very simple. Just pick the risk and add money. 0.25% platform charge plus 0.31% for their multi index fund so not the cheapest but their fund series is well diversified (not just equities and bonds) which is important at the medium or lower risk levels and I think they prefund the tax relief so it's invested earlier earning a return. Same login details as any other l&g products she may have.

Marcon

BigJRock said:

Hi, I have a personal pension plan but my wife has no pension plan at all. She is 49 and wants a small plan opening with £400 then £50 month and the plan is to build up a sum (small I realise) to supplement her state pension.

The considerations for the scheme:

1. Easy to set up.

2. Don't want to be making decisions (as in some SIPPS) except maybe level of risk. So can just pay in each month.

3. Low fees.

4. Obviously good track record so growth rate is good.

I've read up a bit but don't know much about this and still none the wiser about which scheme/provider to use.

Please, has anyone any good suggestions?

4. Track record doesn't mean future growth rate will be good. If you're looking for growth, then you are likely to be looking at investing a good chunk of funds in equities - and they can (and do) fluctuate dramatically.

Brie

People are assuming she has no income.  Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't.  

If she is employed then the first thing to sort is why does she not have a pension through work.  

And then she also needs to consider why she isn't asking these questions herself.   Of course I realise that you are likely a loving spouse who is trying to help but she does need to know how to handle financial decisions herself.

BigJRock

Thank you for the replies so far. To clarify a couple of things. I'm self employed and she has been a housewife but also does some work for me and gets a small income for this. She will be eligible for full state pension.

We are discussing this together but wants me to find a suitable scheme for her to get started with.

xylophone

 She could consider Vanguard.

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/what-we-offer/personal-pension/personal-pension-account?cmpgn=PS0220UKBABSP0001EN&s_kwcid=AL!11156!3!419938358066!e!!g!!vanguard pension&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrKaD2-y69AIVRW1vBB0IgAY5EAAYASAAEgJf0vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Start with £500 and then £100 every two months?

She could choose a ready made portfolio.

https://monevator.com/vanguard-lifestrategy/

Dazza1902

Brie said:

People are assuming she has no income.  Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't.  

If she is employed then the first thing to sort is why does she not have a pension through work.  

And then she also needs to consider why she isn't asking these questions herself.   Of course I realise that you are likely a loving spouse who is trying to help but she does need to know how to handle financial decisions herself.

Totally agree with what your saying. However some partners ( male or female) show no interest whatsoever in the family finances. In such circumstances what would you do ?

Farside71

I opened a Vanguard SIPP for my wife as an additional plan as she doesn't do many hours for the council.   It's cheap and simple and they have ready made retirement funds if you want to be very hands off.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

BigJRock said:

Thank you for the replies so far. To clarify a couple of things. I'm self employed and she has been a housewife but also does some work for me and gets a small income for this. She will be eligible for full state pension.

We are discussing this together but wants me to find a suitable scheme for her to get started with.

Is that based on an assumption regarding how the new State Pension works or from checking her forecast, including the amount accrued to date and future contribution expectations?

xylophone

Another thought, you say that you are self employed - is this the case or do you work for your own limited company (which also employs your wife)?

Your wife has obtained a state pension forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension