Want to consolidate my pension pots. Is Vanguard a good choice?

jamesd

Vanguard can be good if you want to use only their passive and active fund range but your pot is big enough that I agree with cloud_dog that one of the fixed rate providers is likely to be a better move on both cost and choice grounds.

With 300k at 55 it's worth making a bit of a nod towards ensuring that you don't have your lifetime allowance limit exceeded. Plenty of time because it's some way off but once you are settled in a new place, you might do some crystallising, at least in say 20k tax free lump sum chunks (and the corresponding 60k into flexi-access drawdown) to fund ISA use. Not likely to be good to touch the flexi-access drawdown portion until you actually retire because that will trigger the 4k a year money purchase annual allowance reduction in contributions to that type of pension.

LV_426

Thanks folks.
I suppose one option is to select one of my existing plans, and transfer everything else into it.

[Deleted User]

Pretty sure there is a website which allows you to put your data in (amount, what type of funds/etfs you plan to use, etc) and spits out annual costs based on platforms. 

Where Vanguard is good, they don’t tend to have charges except for the cost of the platform.  For example if you buy or sell ETFs, you normally have a cost of transaction plus you might be losing a bit on the spread.  Vanguard allows you to do this for free.  

But like others have said, Van is particularly cost efficient for smaller pots

bostonerimus

Vanguard is a good choice as are the other platforms mentioned above. The one small issue that is mentioned is that you can only buy Vanguard funds. IMO this is not a problem as you have more than enough choice within Vanguard to build a great portfolio and you are not missing out by sticking with Vanguard funds. I use Vanguard in the USA and even though I could use their brokerage to buy anything I stick with Vanguard funds because there's plenty of choice and that way I have zero platform or transaction costs. You don't get such a good deal in the UK, but my point is there's enough choice within Vanguard for almost all circumstances.

Scrudgy

It’s worth remembering that the Vanguard platform does not allow to purchase all of the available Vanguard products.

For example you can buy VWRL on Vanguard, but not VWRP. So if it was important to you to have VWRP in your portfolio you might need to use a different platform anyway.

LV_426

I think I'm leaning towards Vanguard, as my investment strategy is not as sophisticated as some members here, and I just want a good home for my pensions that has fairly low management fees, and provides reasonable growth. Which doesn't need to be huge, as I will have my DB and SP later on.

Clive_Woody

ajfielden said:

I think I'm leaning towards Vanguard, as my investment strategy is not as sophisticated as some members here, and I just want a good home for my pensions that has fairly low management fees, and provides reasonable growth. Which doesn't need to be huge, as I will have my DB and SP later on.

I used VG to pull together a full smaller pension pots and have left them ticking over in there and they seem to be doing well enough. It was very easy to do and I find their platform straightforward to use.

LV_426

Clive_Woody said:

ajfielden said:

I think I'm leaning towards Vanguard, as my investment strategy is not as sophisticated as some members here, and I just want a good home for my pensions that has fairly low management fees, and provides reasonable growth. Which doesn't need to be huge, as I will have my DB and SP later on.

I used VG to pull together a full smaller pension pots and have left them ticking over in there and they seem to be doing well enough. It was very easy to do and I find their platform straightforward to use.

Thanks, good to know. How did you find the transfer process? With several pots to move, it would be useful if I could do them together, or does it require separate transfer applications for each one?

cfw1994

Sounds reasonable to me.
Nobody knows the future, nor which are the "best" funds to invest in. 
Choosing a decent balanced position at a very low cost is a fair thing to do 👍

LV_426

Just for reference, what would an IFA typically charge for advice on this?
Would they ask for a set fee, or would they want a slice of my pension pot?