Talk me down from worrying about/stopping my Vanguard pension

[largeprintagathachristie]

Money/investing not my forte but I (thought) I took my head out of the sand and opened an Vanguard pension, a SIPP. The packaged, "retire in 2035" one.

Enjoyed seeing the numbers go up, liked the platform and the visibility of everything, and made sure I put approx £300 in there every month.

I'm 50 years old (I know its really late...)

Started with £53K in the Vanguard product in June 2021, brought over from an old work one
I've contributed about £4K since then
£1K is showing as tax relief
But overall the return at the moment is just .5%

I gather markets are down and this not the moment to panic and stop contributing, but I'd be really grateful if anyone could tell me that! Or anything else I could be missing.

My salary takes me just into the higher rate tax bracket so I gather I can claim more tax relief at the end of the financial year.

After some big expenses are paid off in a few months time I'll have more spare cash and was planning to put it into the pension (in terms of tax relief) but wondering if I should open a stocks and shares ISA instead.

It’s not the pension, it’s the market. Opening an ISA won’t change that. They are just tax wrappers.

Hold your nerve. That’s the way investments work. The plus side is that as you’re putting money in at the moment you are effectively buying low so will reap the benefits when the markets increase.

thank you, @mintbiscuit
Even though I know the theory, it's so helpful to have a sanity check.

Do you have cash savings too, eg cash ISAs, fixed term bonds, Premium Bonds? Having some savings in solid cash may give you a more comfortable balance, risk wise.

@Plexie
Yes, I do have cash savings; the maximum in premium bonds and an old cash ISA that matures this year.

I'm having a wobble too
My investments have gone from 9% to 0.6% over the last few months