To think 53 is too late to start a pension plan?

[probablystuffed]

Has anyone started one this late? Is it worth it?

The main issue here is that I dont have a salary per se

Oh yes and anything I can start and manage 100% online would be my ideal. I will have to find myself a course in basic money/finance, an accountant and some courage to invest.

OP you ask about ISAs having very little return

It depends on your definition of very little. I would argue that an investment which you don't pay tax on, which earns 1.8% or whatever, is not bad.

but I would also argue that any savings are a good idea. Of course the good days of 6% are gone but it's still worth saving if you can - otherwise what happens on the rainy day etc.

I'm in a similar boat to you OP and recently took out a pension and ISA plan. I'm usually averse to taking advice from IFAs, mortgage brokers, insurance agents and the like as I tend to do the paperwork and research myself. (Even did my own divorce!) I've always been a bit suspicious that they would recommend products which would earn them most commission.

However, I tried to do my own pension/ISA and I realised I was out of my depth on this one. There are so many different products and options available from so many companies I realised that I could be making a costly mistake. I found an IFA locally who charged me a total of £300 (spread over 12 payments of £25) for a one off piece of advice about which financial products I should go for and for setting up my pension/ISA through a big name provider, which I can manage online going forward. I'm so glad I did that. Once it was set up, I felt extraordinarily pleased with myself that I had FINALLY bitten the bullet and got it sorted, even though I didn't do the legwork! Unless you are very financially savvy, I would recommend an IFA.

The idea of an ISA having a low return applies if you put your money into an interest-paying savings account. This is a low-risk short-term plan. Over the long term there is no chance of you making real growth, and you would in fact be destined to long-term real shrinkage as inflation erodes the value faster than interest adds to it.

ISAs are also available with various investment funds, which are likely to have real growth. A tracker fund is likely to have the lowest charges and it is unlikely that any more adventurous, higher-charging scheme will beat the index long term. A few will, but you won't find out which they are for 20 years or more, by which time it will be too late.

Investment companies like to brag about their funds that did well over the last 20 years. The dozens of others that did badly they will not mention, and will have been closed, renamed, or amalgamated away to hide their track record.

Racing tipsters use a similar method, by only mentioning their winning tips, not the majority that lost money.

Best invest regularly publishes Spot the dog fund. You down load it for free and it lists the funds that are not doing well. Also every April there s a slew of info about different funds, managers trusts Etc.

OP you can do this. Daily mail also has good money section s and times etc.

Yes that's the other good point.
.no eggs all in one basket! Have different streams of income and saving

I have a pension from a pension company from an old job I left 5/6 years ago..,.can I get the amount transferred to another isa/pension?

Yes, I wondered that too. Can you roll over pensions here?

You can transfer pension funds into another pension. This may be worthwhile if your old scheme has higher charges than the new one. Not so much if it's an old workplace scheme which still has index-linking or widow's benefits or something.

Some people are also encouraged to shift their pensions into GetRichQuick of Singapore and similar schemes, using unregulated firms with no compensation scheme.

The schemes do what they say. The salesman does get rich quick.

Not so much the investor.

I'm in my 50s, I have a mixed bag - I took ill health retirement from the NHS so I already receive that pension.

I also have a SIPP and a small amount in NEST.

OK a SIPP is a 'self invested pension plan' you basically pay money into it and use it as a 'wrapper' for shares which you buy and sell. I had a couple of pensions from early in my life with very small amounts so I pooled them in the SIPP.

I WOULD NOT use this as my main source of income, It's more a bit of fun.

NEST is the government's scheme. Again I have only a small amount (hundreds not thousands) from a temporary job.

OK the advantages of starting a pension, even now.

Well the big one is tax, if you pay £75 into a pension the government will top it up to £100.

When you retire you can take part, or if it is a small pot, all of your money as a lump sum.

Also you don't have to take all of your pension at once and can still pay in even after retirement.

It might be better to think of your pension pot as an efficient savings account.

On suggestion I have seen if you are not sure you can put money away for a few years is to fill an ISA or other account and then at the end of a year transfer a lump sum, this means if you do need some money you can take it out of your ISA.

Nest is probably the simplest way to start a pension but it might not be the best option for you.

www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/nest.html

@sashh you have to be careful telling people that they can pay into a pension after they retire. Once you start drawing a pension, you trigger the MPAA annual contributions allowance on which you can still get tax relief. That’s only £4K. As tax relief is a huge reason to choose pension over other options, people should be aware of that.

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/money-purchase-annual-allowance

You also have to put in £80 to get £100, not £75.

@Waytooearly yes land would be one of the assets of the sipp. You can also buy commercial property with it then the rent from tenants would go back into the pension. When you sell it the proceeds would go into your pension and no capital gains tax. Quite a lot of rules round it but can be worth while for some people.

I have a pension from a pension company from an old job I left 5/6 years ago..,.can I get the amount transferred to another isa/pension?

You can transfer to a different pension scheme, that's how I funded my SIPP.