Pension rules & advice

Darren21

Hi,

My partner left a company a while ago after less than 2 years service with a pension pot of around £400. As she cannot transfer this to her new company in time due to their transfer rules I was planning on getting her to set up a stakeholder pension - something like scottish widows mixed & uk equity.

Its really hard to find out the rules though, as she now has a new company pension with her latest employer, can she have a stakeholder too? When she starts earning over 30k can she no longer make contributions? Will the pension continue just no contributions allowed?

Are there any of the same restrictions with personal pensions?

Sorry for all the questions but my search has so far been very confusing, I don't know why the pension providers don't list all this information rather than letting you possibly sign up for something your not allowed too...........

dunstonh

can she have a stakeholder too?

Yes.

When she starts earning over 30k can she no longer make contributions?

She can make contributions upto 100% of her earned income including occupational.

When she starts earning over 30k can she no longer make contributions?

That rule doesnt exist any more.

Will the pension continue just no contributions allowed?

You can make a pension paid up whenever you like. The investments continue as per normal.

Are there any of the same restrictions with personal pensions?

Personal pensions, SIPPs and stakeholders have identical contribution rules. Skakeholders are only different as they have to have a defined charging structure whereas personal pensions and SIPPs do not.

I don't know why the pension providers don't list all this information rather than letting you possibly sign up for something your not allowed too

Because you have the choice to buy direct or get advice. If you dont get advice you are taking on responsibility for the advice. They will list key facts but it is impossible to list all the pension rules as that would require 100s of pages of text.

Also, when you look at your questions, they are mostly not applicable so why would they have answers to those?

There is a fine line between advice and information. You tend to find that the companies err on the side of caution a lot of the time. If you are buying direct, they cannot give advice. The info will be there in the t&c but you will have to read it to find out.

If you intend to buy from Scot Widows direct, then dont. They keep the commission for themselves and dont offer decent discounting. Going through an discount IFA would be cheaper.

Darren21

Thanks that explains a great deal, thought the 30k rule was strange and outdated but there is still a lot of reference to it on a google search.

Going through a discount broker as Martin suggests.

Many thanks for your help