Undecided on whether to get a private pension or invest money elsewhere

[PinkHat1]

Hi

From September my husband will start to receive money for his pension every month. His company doesn't have a pension scheme so employees are encouraged to get private insurance. We are undecided about how best to use this money so wanted to look at different options. We've drawn up a list and think we have these 3 options:

Put money into private insurance company
Use money to save up for a deposit for a buy-to-let flat
Use money to make over-payments on our mortgage in hope to pay it off quickly

Interested to hear experiences from others who have decided to go a different route and not have a pension at all and use the money for something else.

We are really at a lose with how best to use this money so any advice welcome!

If you put it into a SIPP, there are substantial tax advantages - like getting an extra 20%. Any other investment will need to beat that hurdle. Historically, investment in shares has yielded higher returns that house prices, especially over a long period.

I'd go for a SIPP. I'd make sure I had my own pension too if I were you

We focused on overpaying mortgage because at least that was a guaranteed saving. Now mortgage free on a sizeable house and focusing now on pensions and shares.

I would also pay the mortgage off first. Substantial savings to be made on the interest you'd otherwise pay, imo.