Personal Pension advice please 🙏🏼

Albermarle

Freedomforever said:

barnstar2077 said:

Vanguard are cheaper than Hargreaves Lansdown, but have less choice of funds (something I consider a good thing, as it stops me changing my mind all the time!  : ) 

Yes less options the better 😊 thank you for taking the time to comment.

However the cheaper fees from Vanguard are not significant in money terms for these amounts.
As HL have a good reputation for service and administration, I would be tempted to go with them for the sake of a few quid.
Not saying Vanguard are poor, but there have been quite a few negative posts on here about them in recent months.

IvanOpinion

Just been through this for a friend, looking at different platforms. In the end she went with Fidelity. Paid in £2400 and then £40 per month. The monthly payment keeps the platform fees down - she only pays the 0.35% platform fee, so about £1 a month at the minute. She uses low cost trackers so again minimal cost.

Freedomforever

Albermarle said:

Freedomforever said:

barnstar2077 said:

Vanguard are cheaper than Hargreaves Lansdown, but have less choice of funds (something I consider a good thing, as it stops me changing my mind all the time!  : ) 

Yes less options the better 😊 thank you for taking the time to comment.

However the cheaper fees from Vanguard are not significant in money terms for these amounts.
As HL have a good reputation for service and administration, I would be tempted to go with them for the sake of a few quid.
Not saying Vanguard are poor, but there have been quite a few negative posts on here about them in recent months.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. 

I have to agree with HL’s great reputation, having a little knowledge of them through past enquiries.
Do you know if they will provide a free projection?
I’m quite nervous as to whether this is the right thing to do. We are also looking at paying additional contributions into my husband’s LGPS pension although he only has maximum of 2.5 years until retirement.

As highlighted to me in my original post, I personally have little income to rely on, should my husband sadly pass first. All of this extra money to pay out adds up, but perhaps the rewards are worth any further tightening of our belts! 🤔

MallyGirl

there will be no concept of a projection because it would depend on what investments you choose

Freedomforever

IvanOpinion said:

Just been through this for a friend, looking at different platforms. In the end she went with Fidelity. Paid in £2400 and then £40 per month. The monthly payment keeps the platform fees down - she only pays the 0.35% platform fee, so about £1 a month at the minute. She uses low cost trackers so again minimal cost.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with your recent experience. 

This also sounds like a viable option for me!

Freedomforever

MallyGirl said:

there will be no concept of a projection because it would depend on what investments you choose

If I explained I wanted to hold as cash, would there be an option then?

Linton

Freedomforever said:

MallyGirl said:

there will be no concept of a projection because it would depend on what investments you choose

If I explained I wanted to hold as cash, would there be an option then?

You dont need to explain anything to anyone.  What happens to the cash you deposit with a platform is entirely in you hands.  If you choose to buy an investment you can do so.  If you want to leave the money in cash then dont buy anything. 

However if you did leave the money as cash inside the pension you would probably get a lower interest rate than outside plus you would be paying charges to do so.

Freedomforever

Linton said:

Freedomforever said:

MallyGirl said:

there will be no concept of a projection because it would depend on what investments you choose

If I explained I wanted to hold as cash, would there be an option then?

You dont need to explain anything to anyone.  What happens to the cash you deposit with a platform is entirely in you hands.  If you choose to buy an investment you can do so.  If you want to leave the money in cash then dont buy anything. 

However if you did leave the money as cash inside the pension you would probably get a lower interest rate than outside plus you would be paying charges to do so.

Thank you for taking the time to explain @Linton I appreciate that!

dunstonh

Freedomforever said:

MallyGirl said:

there will be no concept of a projection because it would depend on what investments you choose

If I explained I wanted to hold as cash, would there be an option then?

Pension projections are synthetic.  They use a range of assumptions based on the asset class.  A projection on a holding in cash would show negative.

Albermarle

Freedomforever said:

IvanOpinion said:

Just been through this for a friend, looking at different platforms. In the end she went with Fidelity. Paid in £2400 and then £40 per month. The monthly payment keeps the platform fees down - she only pays the 0.35% platform fee, so about £1 a month at the minute. She uses low cost trackers so again minimal cost.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with your recent experience. 

This also sounds like a viable option for me!

Just note the comment 'the monthly payments keep the platform fees down'. This is because Fidelity has a minimum charge of £90 pa, but it does not apply if you are a regular investor.
Otherwise they also have a good reputation.