Cash pension in?

averageguy11

Lol....u still seem to c things from a finacial advisors point of view and not 'the person on the street' i am merely relaying discussions i have from people who arent as financially educated as u...again i stress 'flexibility'

Off to work now.

Sorry just to add...u aska lot of people with money purchase company pensions how there pensions stand..they wont have a clue ..fact imho

jem16

averageguy11 wrote: »

Lol....u still seem to c things from a finacial advisors point of view and not 'the person on the street' i am merely relaying discussions i have from people who arent as financially educated as u...again i stress 'flexibility'

The "average person on the street" doesn't have a clue about any investment whether it's ISAs, pensions, unit trusts, investment bonds or whatever. Two thirds don't even have an ISA but will happily save into taxable savings accounts. Out of the third that do have ISAs a lot don't understand how a simple cash ISA works never mind a S&S ISA - many think that once you put £3k into it that's all you can ever have.

So how would they know whether a pension is more or less flexible than any other option?

Sorry just to add...u aska lot of people with money purchase company pensions how there pensions stand..they wont have a clue ..fact imho

That doesn't make the pension wrong, it makes the person who has the pension wrong. They will get a yearly pension statement which will detail how their pension is doing. It's up to them to educate themselves.

Would you buy a car or a house without finding out about it first?

EdInvestor

averageguy11 wrote: »

...again i stress 'flexibility'

I don;t theink there's any question that pensions are the least flexible of all the tax wrappers.

I mean you put the money in. And that's it. You can only get 25% of it out.
Ever.

Does tend to put quite a lot of people off when they realise that.

jamesd

averageguy11, I have a cash ISA. I can't get a currrent value for it easily online because interest is added only once a year.

I have a pension. I can log in over the internet at any time and see the current value or sell or buy whenever I feel like it. Just as I can with my stocks and shares ISA.

You're right about older pensions but the more modern ones have lots of convenience features that make them easier to work with.

Just introduce the people you're talking with to something like Hargreaves Lansdown's SIPP and they will see that it works pretty much just like their ISA. They even show you the values for both the pension and ISA on the same screen.

chesky369

I have a sneaking feeling that the OP somehow thought that if he managed to transfer his pension to an ISA, he could then magically get at the cash - all this without anyone noticing.

jem16

EdInvestor wrote: »

I don;t theink there's any question that pensions are the least flexible of all the tax wrappers.

I mean you put the money in. And that's it. You can only get 25% of it out.
Ever.

Does tend to put quite a lot of people off when they realise that.

Plus of course you get an annual income until the day you die which of course is what it is designed to do.

With too much flexibility some people will have spent their retirement income before they even get to retirement.

cooper2110

Yes, "you can only get out 25%. Ever" - I would say that is slightly misleading!

averageguy11

I think we can c where people bias lays....

James ..interest added only once a year...maybe try a monthly paying one?..I think u r stretching the creditbility a tad...quite easy to work out what interest u have earnt..as against your pension.

Jem...average person in the street has a far better chance of understanding isa's as againt a pension....still least u admit they dont understand pensions.


I think we can agree isas r more flexible.

Gem...your point 'doest make the pension wrong' dont think i actually said tht....u say they should educate themselves if they dont understand it...wel the same could b said of isas...o and i hav several elderly clients who have cash isas...they seem to understand them very well.
Also, on your point re it being easier to withdraw from an isa..yes that can b seen as a disadvantage...i agree..i guess it depends on the makeup of the person....likewise same could b said re the inflexibility of a pension

averageguy11

cooper...i think we understand the point he is making though..dont u think?

averageguy11

Chesky,,i have a feeling u r right