Starting a personal pension while out of work?

MoodyMand45

I was told by a friend that despite being on the dole they started a stakeholder pension and only put about a tenner a month into it as it's all they can afford until finding work.

I was thinking of doing this myself however most providers seem to ask for a minimum of 50 pound monthly or something like that. The stakeholder ones seem to have terrible reviews about people not getting their pension off them so that moved me to look at Sipp versions.

I tend to have a turbulent existence with temporary work and stints of unemployment mixed in which is far from a stable environment for paying into a pension but unless i can achieve my dream of finding permanent employment i don't see this changing soon, any ideas?

xylophone

The stakeholder ones seem to have terrible reviews about people not getting their pension off them 

Can you give examples of this?

I'd have thought that in your current situation a stakeholder would be a good choice?

Might this suit?

https://www.standardlife.co.uk/pensions/personal-pension/stakeholder

MoodyMand45

xylophone said:

The stakeholder ones seem to have terrible reviews about people not getting their pension off them 

Can you give examples of this?

I'd have thought that in your current situation a stakeholder would be a good choice?

Might this suit?

https://www.standardlife.co.uk/pensions/personal-pension/stakeholder

I suppose I shouldn't always look at reviews but it is mainly the Trustpilot reviews i tend to see when googling it although not all are pensions some investment products for standard life and others just makes me nervous.

MallyGirl

people rarely go onto Trustpilot to give good reviews so what you will see will be totally biased towards those who have an axe to grind.

Marcon

MoodyMand45 said:

I was told by a friend that despite being on the dole they started a stakeholder pension and only put about a tenner a month into it as it's all they can afford until finding work.

I was thinking of doing this myself however most providers seem to ask for a minimum of 50 pound monthly or something like that. The stakeholder ones seem to have terrible reviews about people not getting their pension off them so that moved me to look at Sipp versions.

I tend to have a turbulent existence with temporary work and stints of unemployment mixed in which is far from a stable environment for paying into a pension but unless i can achieve my dream of finding permanent employment i don't see this changing soon, any ideas?

Stakeholders have a minimum gross contribution of £20 monthly (i.e. you pay £16 and the provider claims basic rate tax relief on your behalf, which means they effectively 'top up' your contribution to £20 under current rates of tax), and you can pay erratically - i.e. if you can't afford a regular monthly payment, you can pay every other month.

Glowing reviews never made the headlines! Stakeholders are massively regulated like all pension schemes, so forget terrible reviews about people 'not getting their pension off them'. 

dunstonh

The stakeholder ones seem to have terrible reviews about people not getting their pension off them so that moved me to look at Sipp versions.

That is almost certainly BS written by people that don't know what they are talking about.   No stakeholder pension has ever failed.   They have no penalties to access (which is pretty much the norm today but wasn't in 2001 when stakeholders were introduced).  Stakeholder pensions have more consumer protection .

MovingForwards

Every time you have a job, join the pension. If you leave and are offered the money back as you've not been in long enough to leave it with them, have them transfer it to whatever pension you set up.

I have a SIPP and I'm only currently paying £10pm into it as I pay into the pension my employer has. When I'm in better paying roles I increase my SIPP and my employee contributions.

There's been a few threads on the benefit board about paying into pensions while on benefits, it's worth a read to find them.