Trying to find a private pension for a non-pension savvy person

tetsuobodyhammer

Good morning everyone,

I was hoping to find some advice on starting a private pension.

I have read what I am able to digest on the moneysavingexpert website - I am not financially savvy and so have also stopped in here to ask the forum for some advice.

I am about to become redundant and upon contacting smartpension who are contracted by the current employer to provide a workplace pension i have been informed that i will need to transfer their workplace pension into another scheme to access the funds.

I do not have a private pension as have never unfortunately spent a lot of time investigating this and in fact only got a workplace pension seven years ago through this company.

I am not self-employed and am hoping to not have to become such.

At this stage it would appear unless I am wrong to be a logical step to create a private pension in order to transfer the funds that I have accrued in the workplace pension with smartpension over so that I can continue building that pot.

From what i can understand on this website i believe that broadly the two types of pensions that i should be considering are called either trust-based or stakeholder pensions.

What i believe that i need is a pension where any funds added will be invested by the plan manager / company as I am not interested in attempting to make my own investments. My understanding is that this rules out what are know as self-invested personal pensions, unless I am completely incorrect.

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently - however I was interested as a long-time user of the website in hearing what other folks might think.

Marcon

tetsuobodyhammer said:

Good morning everyone,

I was hoping to find some advice on starting a private pension.

I have read what I am able to digest on the moneysavingexpert website - I am not financially savvy and so have also stopped in here to ask the forum for some advice.

I am about to become redundant and upon contacting smartpension who are contracted by the current employer to provide a workplace pension i have been informed that i will need to transfer their workplace pension into another scheme to access the funds.

I do not have a private pension as have never unfortunately spent a lot of time investigating this and in fact only got a workplace pension seven years ago through this company.

I am not self-employed and am hoping to not have to become such.

At this stage it would appear unless I am wrong to be a logical step to create a private pension in order to transfer the funds that I have accrued in the workplace pension with smartpension over so that I can continue building that pot.

From what i can understand on this website i believe that broadly the two types of pensions that i should be considering are called either trust-based or stakeholder pensions.

What i believe that i need is a pension where any funds added will be invested by the plan manager / company as I am not interested in attempting to make my own investments. My understanding is that this rules out what are know as self-invested personal pensions, unless I am completely incorrect.

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently - however I was interested as a long-time user of the website in hearing what other folks might think.

Have a look at https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement especially the 'Pension Basics' section.

QrizB

tetsuobodyhammer said:

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently

Is this person a regulated advisor?

bjorn_toby_wilde

tetsuobodyhammer said:

Good morning everyone,

I was hoping to find some advice on starting a private pension.

I have read what I am able to digest on the moneysavingexpert website - I am not financially savvy and so have also stopped in here to ask the forum for some advice.

I am about to become redundant and upon contacting smartpension who are contracted by the current employer to provide a workplace pension i have been informed that i will need to transfer their workplace pension into another scheme to access the funds.

I do not have a private pension as have never unfortunately spent a lot of time investigating this and in fact only got a workplace pension seven years ago through this company.

I am not self-employed and am hoping to not have to become such.

At this stage it would appear unless I am wrong to be a logical step to create a private pension in order to transfer the funds that I have accrued in the workplace pension with smartpension over so that I can continue building that pot.

From what i can understand on this website i believe that broadly the two types of pensions that i should be considering are called either trust-based or stakeholder pensions.

What i believe that i need is a pension where any funds added will be invested by the plan manager / company as I am not interested in attempting to make my own investments. My understanding is that this rules out what are know as self-invested personal pensions, unless I am completely incorrect.

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently - however I was interested as a long-time user of the website in hearing what other folks might think.

Do you need to access the funds soon?  If not then it may also be an option to leave them where they are. Assuming they’re appropriately invested and fees are not high then you could wait to see what your next job offers in terms of pension then potentially transfer in when you’re happy to do so.

tetsuobodyhammer

Marcon said:

tetsuobodyhammer said:

Good morning everyone,

I was hoping to find some advice on starting a private pension.

I have read what I am able to digest on the moneysavingexpert website - I am not financially savvy and so have also stopped in here to ask the forum for some advice.

I am about to become redundant and upon contacting smartpension who are contracted by the current employer to provide a workplace pension i have been informed that i will need to transfer their workplace pension into another scheme to access the funds.

I do not have a private pension as have never unfortunately spent a lot of time investigating this and in fact only got a workplace pension seven years ago through this company.

I am not self-employed and am hoping to not have to become such.

At this stage it would appear unless I am wrong to be a logical step to create a private pension in order to transfer the funds that I have accrued in the workplace pension with smartpension over so that I can continue building that pot.

From what i can understand on this website i believe that broadly the two types of pensions that i should be considering are called either trust-based or stakeholder pensions.

What i believe that i need is a pension where any funds added will be invested by the plan manager / company as I am not interested in attempting to make my own investments. My understanding is that this rules out what are know as self-invested personal pensions, unless I am completely incorrect.

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently - however I was interested as a long-time user of the website in hearing what other folks might think.

Have a look at https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement especially the 'Pension Basics' section.

I have, yes. I came here thereafter.

tetsuobodyhammer

QrizB said:

tetsuobodyhammer said:

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently

Is this person a regulated advisor?

Yes, they are.

tetsuobodyhammer

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

tetsuobodyhammer said:

Good morning everyone,

I was hoping to find some advice on starting a private pension.

I have read what I am able to digest on the moneysavingexpert website - I am not financially savvy and so have also stopped in here to ask the forum for some advice.

I am about to become redundant and upon contacting smartpension who are contracted by the current employer to provide a workplace pension i have been informed that i will need to transfer their workplace pension into another scheme to access the funds.

I do not have a private pension as have never unfortunately spent a lot of time investigating this and in fact only got a workplace pension seven years ago through this company.

I am not self-employed and am hoping to not have to become such.

At this stage it would appear unless I am wrong to be a logical step to create a private pension in order to transfer the funds that I have accrued in the workplace pension with smartpension over so that I can continue building that pot.

From what i can understand on this website i believe that broadly the two types of pensions that i should be considering are called either trust-based or stakeholder pensions.

What i believe that i need is a pension where any funds added will be invested by the plan manager / company as I am not interested in attempting to make my own investments. My understanding is that this rules out what are know as self-invested personal pensions, unless I am completely incorrect.

I am going to be speaking to someone who handles my savings independently - however I was interested as a long-time user of the website in hearing what other folks might think.

Do you need to access the funds soon?  If not then it may also be an option to leave them where they are. Assuming they’re appropriately invested and fees are not high then you could wait to see what your next job offers in terms of pension then potentially transfer in when you’re happy to do so.

I replied to your reply earlier but checking now this has disappeared off this website - I do not understand why.

I am 51 so in terms of availability, although i would not be touching the pension soon my thinking has been to take control of my pension/s and open one of my own that will allow me to move these workplace funds into my own pot over time.
Although leaving them where they are is likely an option I have seen other providers that provide workplace pensions which the user can then convert or keep as a personal / private pension unless i have misinterpreted this. These smartpension people do not allow or offer that. I imagine that i will be leaving the funds there in the very short term in any case, but i came here hoping to find answers about one or more appropriate pension plans that might work for me based on other users' experiences.

cfw1994

Be aware that advisor fees can suck away your wealth over the long term.

You can get basic pensions at low cost from the likes of Vanguard (LifeStrategy funds - see here for more).  

You don’t mention your age or personal situation in detail.
My *personal* view is to be all-in on 100% equity based investments if you are more than 10 years from retirement - you are contributing for many years, if markets dip or crash, you are then buying in at the low price, and markets will broadly rise back.

I’m also a believer in the ethos of Lars Kroijer - essentially buy the world at the lowest cost, don’t try to beat the markets.  Spend 20-30 minutes watching his explanations here to see why.

tetsuobodyhammer

cfw1994 said:

Be aware that advisor fees can suck away your wealth over the long term.

You can get basic pensions at low cost from the likes of Vanguard (LifeStrategy funds - see here for more).  

You don’t mention your age or personal situation in detail.
My *personal* view is to be all-in on 100% equity based investments if you are more than 10 years from retirement - you are contributing for many years, if markets dip or crash, you are then buying in at the low price, and markets will broadly rise back.

I’m also a believer in the ethos of Lars Kroijer - essentially buy the world at the lowest cost, don’t try to beat the markets.  Spend 20-30 minutes watching his explanations here to see why.

Thanks. This is useful information, and precisely the reason why i do occasionally post to forums such as this.

In terms of situation, i am 51 - only started a pension when i was 43 which i understand is very poor behaviour - and am now going to be redundant from March.

i have roughly £52k in savings with an independent financial team from Fairstone that has grown from £38k some years back, £39k in this workplace pension that i cannot touch, and another £30k more sitting in a 5% interest bank account.

In answer to your original post, i don't plan or believe that i could plan to retire any time before the current retirement age of 67 so i would be contributing to this pension fund until at least then, if not longer if i can find work.

Albermarle

I have read what I am able to digest on the moneysavingexpert website - I am not financially savvy and so have also stopped in here to ask the forum for some advice.

If you spend some time reading through the threads on this forum, then that could help as well. Best avoid the more complicated discussions, and look for new posters asking relatively simple questions like yourself and reading the responses.

The suggestion by a previous poster to wait until you get a new job, and then transfer the Smart pension into your new employers pension is probably the simplest option.

What i believe that i need is a pension where any funds added will be invested by the plan manager / company as I am not interested in attempting to make my own investments.

Pension providers do not manage your pension for you.
However workplace pensions normally have a default investment fund, where your money goes if you do not make any active choices.
Alternatively you can pay an independent financial advisor, but with your level of funds this would prove expensive, even if you could get one interested.

LHW99

Have you read this?

https://www.smartpension.co.uk/members-articles/your-pension-choices-at-retirement

"If you want to stop working but don’t want to start drawing on your savings, you can become what’s known as a ‘deferred member’. This means you wouldn’t be paying into the scheme, but we would still be managing your savings for you."

Looks as if you could leave any funds with Smart Pensions if you don't want to draw on them immediately.

That gives you the chance to take your time to work out what is best for you.