Good package but pension issues

sultan123

Looking for some advice. An offer for a role has been made where the base salary is £93000 + £1200 general allowance and a £6000 car allowance. There is bonus too which is 18%.

However, my challenge is as that takes me over the 100k threshold I will need to do salary sacrifice of both base salary and some part of bonus into work place pension. The provider of the pension is scottish widows though and reviews have been very bad on trustpilot etc.

Even though the offer is appealing, I feel a lot of money would be wasted through the pension provider potentially going of the reviews. Also thought of SIPP but again that would surely not work here in order to save on 60% tax.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

El_Torro

I certainly wouldn’t refuse a job just because the pension provider they use has bad reviews on Trustpilot. 

If you’re that concerned about the pension platform then one thing you can do is do a partial  transfer of funds to another pension provider of your choice every few months. Don’t do a full transfer or you might end up closing your pension scheme. This way your pension is never too big with Scottish Widows. 

I don’t look at online reviews of pension providers but are the bad reviews genuine issues? If they’re just complaining that their pension has dropped in the last year or two then this isn’t a real issue against Scottish Widows. Most pensions have experienced this. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Loss of Personal Allowance (the 60% tax issue) can be mitigated by contributions to a SIPP as they will reduce your adjusted net income.  Which is what the Personal Allowance is based on.

You might not have chosen that pension provider but don't forget it's the investments you choose which are most important with a pension, not the providers service.  Fees will be a factor though.

If need be you can always move to another provider when the time comes to start taking money out of the pension.

sultan123

El_Torro said:

I certainly wouldn’t refuse a job just because the pension provider they use has bad reviews on Trustpilot. 

If you’re that concerned about the pension platform then one thing you can do is do a partial  transfer of funds to another pension provider of your choice every few months. Don’t do a full transfer or you might end up closing your pension scheme. This way your pension is never too big with Scottish Widows. 

I don’t look at online reviews of pension providers but are the bad reviews genuine issues? If they’re just complaining that their pension has dropped in the last year or two then this isn’t a real issue against Scottish Widows. Most pensions have experienced this. 

Thank you. If it is a workplace pension, am I allowed to move to a totally new provider though? I was under impression you must stick to whoever work are associated with as a provider?

Also does moving from 1 to another not have a penatly.

I have looked at 3 different websites at reviews and they are all bad. There is not a single positive comment and that is not an exaggeration. The complaints seem.to be widespread including being able to contact the provider which is alarming

sultan123

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Loss of Personal Allowance (the 60% tax issue) can be mitigated by contributions to a SIPP as they will reduce your adjusted net income.  Which is what the Personal Allowance is based on.

You might not have chosen that pension provider but don't forget it's the investments you choose which are most important with a pension, not the providers service.  Fees will be a factor though.

If need be you can always move to another provider when the time comes to start taking money out of the pension.

Thanks for advice. But with the SIPP I would be making contributions out of my net pay so in effect would I not be putting a lot of money into 2 pensions (employer and SIPP) which are not guaranteed.

Undervalued

sultan123 said:

El_Torro said:

I certainly wouldn’t refuse a job just because the pension provider they use has bad reviews on Trustpilot. 

If you’re that concerned about the pension platform then one thing you can do is do a partial  transfer of funds to another pension provider of your choice every few months. Don’t do a full transfer or you might end up closing your pension scheme. This way your pension is never too big with Scottish Widows. 

I don’t look at online reviews of pension providers but are the bad reviews genuine issues? If they’re just complaining that their pension has dropped in the last year or two then this isn’t a real issue against Scottish Widows. Most pensions have experienced this. 

Thank you. If it is a workplace pension, am I allowed to move to a totally new provider though? I was under impression you must stick to whoever work are associated with as a provider?

Also does moving from 1 to another not have a penatly.

I have looked at 3 different websites at reviews and they are all bad. There is not a single positive comment and that is not an exaggeration. The complaints seem.to bd widespread including being able to contact the provider which is alarming

As far as I am aware yes, although I am not up to date with with the rules, benefits and drawbacks (if any).

I think you would be better asking these questions in the pensions and investments sections of this forum where a number of IFAs and others far better versed with all this tend to hang out.

Probably well worth taking proper, individual and above all accountable professional advice in view of the sums involved.

El_Torro

sultan123 said:

El_Torro said:

I certainly wouldn’t refuse a job just because the pension provider they use has bad reviews on Trustpilot. 

If you’re that concerned about the pension platform then one thing you can do is do a partial  transfer of funds to another pension provider of your choice every few months. Don’t do a full transfer or you might end up closing your pension scheme. This way your pension is never too big with Scottish Widows. 

I don’t look at online reviews of pension providers but are the bad reviews genuine issues? If they’re just complaining that their pension has dropped in the last year or two then this isn’t a real issue against Scottish Widows. Most pensions have experienced this. 

Thank you. If it is a workplace pension, am I allowed to move to a totally new provider though? I was under impression you must stick to whoever work are associated with as a provider?

Also does moving from 1 to another not have a penatly.

I have looked at 3 different websites at reviews and they are all bad. There is not a single positive comment and that is not an exaggeration. The complaints seem.to bd widespread including being able to contact the provider which is alarming

Moving funds from one pension to another is pretty easy. You give the provider you are transferring to the details of your Scottish Widows pension and the amount you want to transfer, then pretty much just wait a few weeks for it to happen. These days pension providers don't tend to charge for transfers in or transfers out, though you might want to check this with both providers. 

Your employer probably only pays in to Scottish Widows, if you ask them to pay into a different provider then the likelihood is they will say no. They just don't want the hassle of making you a special case. However what you do with the funds once they are in your pension is up to you. You can transfer them out whenever you like. 

Scottish Widows might have a bad reputation when it comes to customer service, I don't know. I don't think you'll need to call them ever though, assuming you will have an online account.

sultan123

Undervalued said:

sultan123 said:

El_Torro said:

I certainly wouldn’t refuse a job just because the pension provider they use has bad reviews on Trustpilot. 

If you’re that concerned about the pension platform then one thing you can do is do a partial  transfer of funds to another pension provider of your choice every few months. Don’t do a full transfer or you might end up closing your pension scheme. This way your pension is never too big with Scottish Widows. 

I don’t look at online reviews of pension providers but are the bad reviews genuine issues? If they’re just complaining that their pension has dropped in the last year or two then this isn’t a real issue against Scottish Widows. Most pensions have experienced this. 

Thank you. If it is a workplace pension, am I allowed to move to a totally new provider though? I was under impression you must stick to whoever work are associated with as a provider?

Also does moving from 1 to another not have a penatly.

I have looked at 3 different websites at reviews and they are all bad. There is not a single positive comment and that is not an exaggeration. The complaints seem.to bd widespread including being able to contact the provider which is alarming

As far as I am aware yes, although I am not up to date with with the rules, benefits and drawbacks (if any).

I think you would be better asking these questions in the pensions and investments sections of this forum where a number of IFAs and others far better versed with all this tend to hang out.

Probably well worth taking proper, individual and above all accountable professional advice in view of the sums involved.

Thank you I will ask in there too, sensible

sultan123

El_Torro said:

sultan123 said:

El_Torro said:

I certainly wouldn’t refuse a job just because the pension provider they use has bad reviews on Trustpilot. 

If you’re that concerned about the pension platform then one thing you can do is do a partial  transfer of funds to another pension provider of your choice every few months. Don’t do a full transfer or you might end up closing your pension scheme. This way your pension is never too big with Scottish Widows. 

I don’t look at online reviews of pension providers but are the bad reviews genuine issues? If they’re just complaining that their pension has dropped in the last year or two then this isn’t a real issue against Scottish Widows. Most pensions have experienced this. 

Thank you. If it is a workplace pension, am I allowed to move to a totally new provider though? I was under impression you must stick to whoever work are associated with as a provider?

Also does moving from 1 to another not have a penatly.

I have looked at 3 different websites at reviews and they are all bad. There is not a single positive comment and that is not an exaggeration. The complaints seem.to bd widespread including being able to contact the provider which is alarming

Moving funds from one pension to another is pretty easy. You give the provider you are transferring to the details of your Scottish Widows pension and the amount you want to transfer, then pretty much just wait a few weeks for it to happen. These days pension providers don't tend to charge for transfers in or transfers out, though you might want to check this with both providers. 

Your employer probably only pays in to Scottish Widows, if you ask them to pay into a different provider then the likelihood is they will say no. They just don't want the hassle of making you a special case. However what you do with the funds once they are in your pension is up to you. You can transfer them out whenever you like. 

Scottish Widows might have a bad reputation when it comes to customer service, I don't know. I don't think you'll need to call them ever though, assuming you will have an online account.

Ah ok this sounds straightforward but yes I should check any charges to be safe.

sultan123

On another side note, I have learnt from previous discussions and had a look at net pay difference using a calculator.

My current package is 87k vs new proposed package of 100,200k. The net pay diff per month seems to be about £700. Does this seem accurate.

Grumpy_chap

With a package of this size, it is worth investing in professional financial advice to make the decisions around pension etc.

It is quite likely that the Employer will only make contributions (employer and employee SS) into the one scheme they are set up to work with - Scottish Widows.  That is not uncommon.

Why not make the maximum contributions that are permitted to the employer's scheme and then make partial transfer out to whichever SIPP you have in place for your long term financial planning?  Transfer most of the balance periodically to your SIPP but leaving enough such that the scheme remains open for ongoing contributions.  You will need to check the scheme rules permit this and any fees, but I would expect it is permitted and also that there would be no / negligible charge for the partial transfer out.

Given you will only have small sums in the Scottish Widows pension, any internet concerns you may have read wherever are unlikely to impact you.  Again, your professional financial advisor may be able to put any concern you have read into proper context.

With regard to the second question about variations in nett pay, the online tools tend to be sufficiently accurate for most practical purposes, but there are some recent and in depth discussions that the OP may find worth reviewing:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6334450/net-salary-difference/p1
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6361318/annual-pay-difference/p1