| Related: | Personal Finance•Investing•Pensions |
Thanks guys "......
Hi mpatel
Are you aware that with almost no exceptions - apart from being declared terminally ill with a very short lifespan - any money you put into a pension is untouchable until you are 60. And even then you will only be able to take out 25% as a lump sum, with the rest having to be used to buy you an annuity which will provide a pension for life. If your circumstances later change, you can stop paying into a pension but any premiums you have already paid are effectively out of reach until you are 60.
This is such a specialist area that you REALLY should seek proffessional advice. I have included a link below to the pension comparison table on this site so you can see which companies may suit your needs:
http://www.money.co.uk/pensions.htm
If you were asking for advice on joining a company pension scheme than the advice would be easier to give as most schemes are very advantageous when you take into account the companies contributions.
Private pensions are not as good as they once were. If you were disciplined enough to save the money in long term savings accounts and ISA's then you may be better off not having a pension as all of your savings would be available for you to use when you reached retirement and not just the 25% that a pension would allow you. But the temptation would always be there to use the money for cars, weddings, holidays, etc.
If you place your pension with one of the companies in the above table then you will have the choice to invest in a managed fund where they decide where to invest your money, or if you are confident enough to choose your own investments then you can choose one of the specific funds that they offer.
One other alternative you may want to consider is a SIPP. This is a more flexible type of pension which may better suit your needs.
Without knowing more about you, age, employment, salary, company pension schemes, amount you wish to invest, your investment knowledge, etc, etc, it is almost impossible to suggest anything.
If you have read this far you are probably more confused than you were before, and i have barely scatched the surface!!
Which brings me back to a previous point, namely you REALLY should seek professional advice. Or at least talk to others with private pensions.
Hi mpatel - there is a useful link here to explain some of the basics of a personal pension: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/Companyandpersonalpensions/PersonalPensions/DG_4017726
Good link Sidesalad, wish i had posted that. It would have saved 20 mins!!
IMHO private pensions are a complete waste of time and money. I preferred to make my own investment decisions over the years, without the benefit of tax relief, which resulted in being able to retire in my 40's. But appreciate that will not work for everyone. The amount that would have to be put into a pension every month to make it worthwhile is beyond the means of most people.
I think you are right about private pensions Bonz. We invested a lot of money into ours in order to retire early, but some banker somewhere is now spending a lot that money on himself methinks!
And don't forget 'Dear Old Gordon Brown' who whilst Chancellor removed the ability for pensions to recover the tax credit on dividends. They never recovered after that. With hindsight we should have made sure that all of our premiums were invested in Emerging Markets and China, which have been two of the investment stars over recent years.
Oooh - don't get me started on dear Gordon (who is now making over a million pounds a year apparently..)
Hmm, must be his sparkling personality... ;-)
Pensions are a waste of time always have been
From Rupert Murdoch fiddling them to the recent financial irregularities over misselling you would be better putting the cash under your mattress.
Never had a pension never will.
I will live fast , die young and have a beautiful ending well before i am old enough to have a pension pipe and slippers!!!
>_)
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