Stakeholder Pension

Bob_8472

I'm self-employed and I setup a Stakeholder about 20 years ago and it was taken over by Reassure recently.  The "pot" is now a reasonable size (over £500k).

I plan to semi-retire in about 5 years, but chances are I'll keep working part-time for as long as my health permits !  So flexible drawdown from the pension looks like it will be the way to go i.e. just tapping into it to supplement my working income when I'm no longer full-time.

With the Stakeholder, I'm paying a 1% annual fee and checking around that seems on the high side nowadays, so I'd like to look around for a good place to transfer it to.

Obv I'll have a look on the MSE website but can anyone suggest other places to look to compare different providers etc, and anything else I should be thinking about before I transfer it ?

Thanks for any suggestions.

dunstonh

With the Stakeholder, I'm paying a 1% annual fee and checking around that seems on the high side nowadays, so I'd like to look around for a good place to transfer it to.

Stakeholders were cheap in 2001 when they were introduced but by around 2005, personal pensions were cheaper again.   So, pricing has been high for about 16 years.

Obv I'll have a look on the MSE website but can anyone suggest other places to look to compare different providers etc, and anything else I should be thinking about before I transfer it ?

MSE doesn't have anything that does that.  Partly as it has had a woeful record on investments in the past and partly because information went out of date so quickly and the articles couldn't keep up. At one time, this site was using an Aviva pension in its article that ceased to be available 8 years earlier.

Before looking for providers, you need to decide what you want from a provider and what functionality you will need.  For example, if your retirement income plan is to have phased drawdown using monthly UFPLS then there is no point choosing a provider that doesn't offer that option.    Or if your drawdown strategy is to hold around 3 years worth of income in cash within the pension then you will need cash functionality (and ideally income units available to replenish the cash - some only offer accumulation units).

So, look at what you want, how you want to do it and then filter providers out.

xylophone

https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/options-for-cashing-in-your-pensions/income-drawdown/compare-pension-drawdown-plans-and-charges-ax1628r13rdk

might help.

You might want to book an appointment with Pension Wise/look at the on site tool to consider ways of accessing your pension.

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise/book-a-free-pension-wise-appointment

Have you obtained  a  state pension forecast?

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

Bob_8472

Thanks both, really good pointers there.  I will have a dig around on the links provided.  

It seems pretty clear I should be moving & not sticking with a provider charging 1%, but I want to make sure I'm picking the right option before I move (I'd rather not have to do it again).

Thanks again

Albermarle

Bob_8472 said:

Thanks both, really good pointers there.  I will have a dig around on the links provided.  

It seems pretty clear I should be moving & not sticking with a provider charging 1%, but I want to make sure I'm picking the right option before I move (I'd rather not have to do it again).

Thanks again

When looking at charges you need to be careful. Some providers have a single charge, like with your stakeholder pension. Some have a management/platform charge and each investment has their own charge.
Some also offer discounts the more you have . Also from time to time some offer cashback for transferring a pension in to them.
You also need to consider the range of investments on offer. This can vary from a handful of choices to thousands of choices.