Setting up a new personal pension - help me choose!

What_time_is_it

I took redundancy at the end of December and I would like to maximise my pension contribution for the current tax year. Since so can no longer pay into my old workplace scheme I need to choose a new pension provider and scheme.

i have calculated (with a lot of help from this forum!) that I have £12.5k of my 2024/25 salary remaining that is allowable to invest in a pension this year. So I would be looking to pay in £10,000 before April 5th, and then £2,880 after April 5th to maximise my allowable 2025/26 contributions.

i am 48 and taking a few years away from paid work. I would like to retire completely in my 50s and by 60 at the absolute latest.

What I’m looking for is advice or personal experience on which provider to use and what kind of scheme to choose. The range of providers and options is overwhelming! 

Any tips, opinions, stories, ideas all welcome! 🙂

Exodi

What_time_is_it said:

What I’m looking for is advice

Doh, well we certainly can't give financial advice on this forum, that would need to be regulated.

What_time_is_it said:

Any tips, opinions, stories, ideas all welcome! 🙂

Can do that. InvestEngine has no platform fee so is undeniably the cheapest platform, though they don't allow employer contributions (which is perfect as it sounds like you don't need them to).

I am however, unsure on drawdown from them, it would be useful if any one had experience with that (alternatively you could just transfer when you want to retire to a provider with better drawdown functionality).

Vanguard used to be a good option, though they now penalise people with pots smaller than £32k (which you'd have).

What_time_is_it

Thanks @Exodi

I was actually thinking of Vanguard so that is very useful info. If I had another Vanguard investment product and had a total of over £32k with them across the products would that make any difference?

I will check out InvestEngine.

I have, up until now, been thinking that drawdown would be my favoured option when the time comes. 

Exodi

What_time_is_it said:

Thanks @Exodi

I was actually thinking of Vanguard so that is very useful info. If I had another Vanguard investment product and had a total of over £32k with them across the products would that make any difference?

I will check out InvestEngine.

I have, up until now, been thinking that drawdown would be my favoured option when the time comes. 

Yes that would make a big difference, Vanguard charges £4 a month or 0.15% (whichever is more) based on balanced across accounts you hold with them.

This means if you have £1000 in total, vanguard charges £48 a year (equivalent to a platform fee of 4.8%!)

If you have £10,000 it would still be £48 a year (though equivalent to a platform fee of 0.48%).

The breakeven point is £32,000 where you would be charged £48 a year (exactly equivalent to a platform fee of 0.15%)

Fortunately as it counts the total across accounts, if you have £20k in a S&S ISA, and £20k in a SIPP, you would pay 0.15% platform charge in each account.

Though of course Vanguard charge 0.15% (compared to InvestEngines 0%) and limit you to their own funds only (whereas InvestEngine limit you to ETF's only, but from multiple providers). On the flipside, Vanguard is a lot more well known. Other platforms exist also.

What_time_is_it

Super helpful and very clear. Thanks so much.

i have a lot to learn and a limited time (about 6 weeks!) to decide and get things set up.