Stakeholder Pensions/ MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion Area

EdInvestor

Here's the FSA's site which has charges comparisons:

https://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables

LPChamberlain

:j no longer so It is so nice to know there are people who are prepared to take the time to help :A

dunstonh

But the usual warning when looking at the FSA's tables. They assume default fund and there are some doubts as to whether the fund based discounts get included with some providers. Default funds are not always a reflection of charges on the other funds available. This now includes stakeholders, when it didnt in the past.

JayJay_3

Just turned 21, in full time employment, earning, not a lot, as I work in a bar.
Need help as to where I can start saving for my pension when I get to 65. Could you suggest a organisation who can offer free advice towards a suitable pension plan.
Gratefully
Jay

EdInvestor

Hi Jayjay

It's a bit early to panic

Do you think you'll want to buy a house later on? If so, you might be better to save in an ISA for now, because if you put savings in a pension, you can't get the money out again until you're 55, and then you can only get it as a taxable income.

If there's no company pension where you work and you don't pay higher rate tax, the pension tax wrapper (cos that's all a pension is, a tax wrapper) may not be the one for you at all - the ISA tax wrapper could well be a better way to save for retirement long term.

dunstonh

Although Ed points out some key things to remember, you also need to keep in mind that what you pay in now at 21 will have the longest time to grow. If you were to delay paying in £50pm now by 5 years, you would need to start at £100pm just to get the same benefits at the end. The early years are very very important.

So, dont panic, but dont put it off.

ISAs do offer a lot of flexibility. Although ISAs offer some benefits over pensions (and vice versa), the easy access to the money can also be a negative. Some people cannot trust themselves to leave the money until retirement and need that tie in with pensions to protect themselves long term.

You will not get free advice. You pay for it one way or another. If you do it on no fee basis, the product provider will pay commission to the advisor. If you want the product cheaper, then you will need to pay for the advice.

Lemmy_2

I recently came across an article which said that SIPPs could be used to group smaller pensions (for example, company pensions that are no longer being contributed towards) into a single wrapper.

Does anyone know if this is correct, and if so, how I go about doing this? I currently have several pensions from various jobs I've worked at in the past with quite small funds, but can see some advantages to having them all grouped together in this way.

UNSHURE

Does anyone know whether it will be possible, from April 2006, to contribute to both a stakeholder pension and an occupational pension at the same time? For example, a company final salary scheme and a stakeholder pension.

isasmurf

Yes you can. From 'A-day' there is no limit on the number or types of pensions you can contribute to. The limits are solely on the amount you contribute across all your pensions per year.

EdInvestor

Lemmy wrote:

I recently came across an article which said that SIPPs could be used to group smaller pensions (for example, company pensions that are no longer being contributed towards) into a single wrapper.

Does anyone know if this is correct, and if so, how I go about doing this? I currently have several pensions from various jobs I've worked at in the past with quite small funds, but can see some advantages to having them all grouped together in this way.

Certainly you can and it's often a very sensible thing to do. But there are various issues involved in transferring company pensions, depending on what kind of pensions they are ( eg final salary/money purchase or perhaps GPPs - group personal pensions).It's usually not sensible to transfer final salary pensions. It's often sensible to transfer personal pensions, including GPPs.SOme older pensions may have guarantees,and it might be unwise to move them. You can't transfer protected rights (contracted out) money into a SIPP so at present you'll need a basic stakeholder type pension running alongside the SIPP to deal with that money - this anomaly may change later.

The mechanics are quite simple: choose a SIPP provider, open an account and then request the company to transfer the money. In choosing a provider, pick one with low costs.Depending on what you want to invest the money in ( shares? funds?) different providers will be more suitable.

How much money is involved? If not much, post some more info about the pensions here.If it's fairly sizeable you will probably be sensible to pay a fee to an IFA to look into the advisability of the transfers.