Starting a pension - lots of advice needed!

TDS_2

Hi, this is my forst ever post on here, though I have been an avid reader of these pages for some time.

Basically, I want to start saving for retirement, and have a few questions:

I am a basic rate taxpayer, aged 24. I have saved 3k so far in a cash ISA and am a little unsure as to how much I should be contributing each month. 12% (half my starting age) of my salary is the usual recomendation, but is this 12% of my pre or post tax/NI pay?

I've read a lot about ISA vs pensions - am I right in saying that it may be better to use an ISA until I move into the higher rate of tax?

If/when I do start an official pension, am I better using a SIPP or a personal pension?

Lastly(!) at my age, I presume I should be looking at the riskier end of the investment spectrum. I understand the arguments for diversifying, but have no idea what sort of sectors/weightings I should be looking at. I've also heard a lot about trackers vs managed funds. Any thoughts?


I realise that there is a lot of questions here, but any advice would be great!

Thank you!

Retired_I.F.A.

Theres far to much involved in giving best advice to someone like yourself dipping into the pension field for the first time. To even contemplate a reply needs a full fact find that would take maybe an hour to even fill in so anything anyone post hereafter is pretty much generalised and guesswork. You need to seek out a financial adviser peferably an independent one as only one authorised under the law can give advice.

TDS_2

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate that there's probably a lot more information that you would need to give a definitive answer, but any rules-of-thumb / generalisations are a good start as far as I'm concerned.

Lavendyr

TDS, are you me? :P I have exactly the same questions and will be watching this thread with interest.

TDS_2

lol! I imagined there might be a few people on here in a similar situation. I'm not looking for all the answers, just a few pointers to head me in the right direction...

dunstonh

Your questions are too vague.

i.e. how much should you pay would get the response how much do you want to get in retirement?

or SIPP vs PPP vs SHP. Do you have the knowledge and skills to utilise the more expensive investment options within the SIPP or would it just be an expensive folly?

or with risk being a personal thing its not really for anyone to tell you what yours is.

You are asking questions which need to be asked but we cannot really answer them because we know nothing about you.

olly300

TDS and Lavendyr no IFA on this board is allowed to give you proper advice even if they did know your situation as the law prevents them from doing so.

You need to do some basic research i.e. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/#SavingPensionInvestm and then go and see an Independent Financial Advisor who is, as Retired IFA states, can then legally give you the advice you need. Have a look at http://www.unbiased.co.uk to find one near you.

Lavendyr

Not asking for any advice, I just said I would be reading the thread with interest. I am well aware that IFAs may not give advice on this board.

smithson55

Don't be miffed. A good IFA will have to ask a lot of questions about you, your future life plans, how prepared you are to take risk, etc., before he can come out with the answers that you want. That is compulsory - the Financial Services Authority rules insist that an adviser "knows his/her client" and can prove that's been done if questioned later. Otherwise it's walking the plank for him/her.

Watching here for ideas to put to the IFA may show that you are not totally clueless and keep him/her on his toes.

I am an IFA.

TDS_2

Thanks for posting, all.

Perhaps I should have asked for people's opinions on the matters raised above, rather than asking for specific advice. I appreciate that people are limited in what advice they can give.

Is there anywhere I can find out for myself about asset allocation, and how this should be altered depending on risk profile? I don't want to get an IFA involved just yet, as I want to research all of this first.

Thanks again!