Pensions

jimmyinin

Hi !! Lookin for some advise . I m 29 and looking to start a new pension but been researching the market on pension .. I m finding it very hard to decide which provider should I go with. My employer doesnt provide any pension deals at all so looking for private ones ..

Getting a biased advise on the market .. most people say I should go for a SIPP rather then a StakeHolder pension ..Not sure How Sipp performs in the market .. I m quite aware Stakeholders are flat presently in the market ..

Am i too late to start a Pension? I m about to get married next year and think should get on the pension ladder before expenses keep increasing ..

Can anyone advise me further ?

Thanks very much

Regards

Jimmy

dunstonh

Lookin for some advise

For clarification, the board is not authorised to give advice and even those of us that are cannot use the board to give advice. Its discussion only.

I m 29 and looking to start a new pension but been researching the market on pension .. I m finding it very hard to decide which provider should I go with.

Not a surprise you are finding it hard as the best pensions are typically not available direct.

most people say I should go for a SIPP rather then a StakeHolder pension

Thats because they know no better. SIPPs are a minority option for experienced investors. An inexperienced investor could do a lot of damage using a SIPP. Also, why are you limiting yourself to stakeholder (at the bottom end) and SIPP (at the top end) and not including personal pensions?

Not sure How Sipp performs in the market

It doesnt perform. Nor does a stakeholder or personal pension. They are the product that contains your investments. Its the investments where you get your performance. Not the container.

I m quite aware Stakeholders are flat presently in the market

Not sure what you mean by that.

Am i too late to start a Pension?

No. You are 11 year later than an 18 year old would be so you have missed out on paying very small contributions and getting away with it but you are not too late.

I m about to get married next year and think should get on the pension ladder before expenses keep increasing ..

There are always reasons for not investing towards your retirement. When you finally run out of reasons, you are normally in your 50s and then it really is too late to do much about it.

jimmyinin

Thanks very much for your reply.[/font]
Yes agree no one can give me any advise but they can atleast share their experiences to how their funds are performing or whether they are getting as much out of the choice of fund they invested in
U did mention I don’t get the best pension as they are not available directly ..How do I go about finding more about it ? Hiring an IFA sometimes can cost you a fortune
So which one is worth a study .. Personal or Stakeholder .. Take it SIPP’s are out as I aint experienced investor
Yes I agree I am pretty late but we all live in an expensive world .. I have just cleared my debts for my University this year and I m focussed to get on to a pension ladder. So yes I m late but don’t want to be more late ..
Wot should I do in your experience sir

jimmyinin

Previous Thread

dunstonh

they can atleast share their experiences to how their funds are performing

There are tens of thousands of funds out there. All have different risk profiles, all form part of different investment strategies, all used by people of different skills.

There is no one best option as so much depends on how you want to invest and how you intend to monitor, review and alter periodically (or not).

U did mention I don’t get the best pension as they are not available directly ..How do I go about finding more about it ? Hiring an IFA sometimes can cost you a fortune

Hiring an IFA doesnt cost a fortune. Indeed, at your age using an IFA and a front loaded charged product with lower annual management charges would have lower charges than a stakeholder pension arranged on zero commission by a discount IFA.

So which one is worth a study .. Personal or Stakeholder .. Take it SIPP’s are out as I aint experienced investor

stakeholders are a product with defined charges and a limited range of investment funds. I wouldnt call them the simpleton product but simplicity is what they are designed to be. At your age they are not the cheapest option and the simplicity of stakeholder pensions means you dont get access to very good funds.

personal pensions are the middle ground but there are no defined standards with a personal pension. You can find some that are virtually identical to stakeholder but with a lot more funds. You can find other versions that are very cheap over the term as they take the costs out at the start and ongoing charges are far lower than a stakeholder (good for those with more than 20 years to go until retirement) and you find some pretty rubbish examples that are obsolete but the providers just dont want to remove.

No-one can tell you what is best. Indeed, to put that in perspective, I have three pension transfers on my desk today and all three are going to different providers as the ages, investment aims, knowledge and experience of the clients is different. My own pension isnt with any of those three.

What you need to decide is if you are going to do it yourself or seek advice. If you DIY you then need to decide if you are going to research investing and investments and continue regular monitoring or if you intend to invest and forget. That will decide on the sort of product and investment funds you should be using. Your contribution levels will be important here as many pensions have higher contribution limits and you could find that what you wanted to pay eliminates a lot of the options. The contribution level may also impact on whether its worth seeing an IFA or not.