I have a very poor work's pension rate and 4K to invest

[irridium]

At 52, I didn't have enough money to invest in my private pension previously due to raising a family as a single parent. I have 4k savings and I'm wondering what the best way to invest? Whether to pay all this into my private pension (Scottish Widows, not a great return on the basic rate I'm paying) or to put it in a savings account like Chase or something similar. I'm very wary of other types of investment schemes, like Bitcoin whatever...

What are my options?

Is £4k the only cash you have? If so then I would keep that as an emergency fund.

It may be useful to go through the flowchart at ukpersonal.finance

Use tax efficient wrappers, such as ISA for money you want accessible and pension/SIPP for money for retirement age. Your work pension may be useful to use if the fund choices are good and costs low.

I would keep it easily accessible and put it into a stocks and shares ISA.
Maybe start a self invested personal pension,which you can do on your own, through platform, and get a few hundred into it
To start it off.

You can't access the sipp until retirement age however just opening it would be a huge step then it's there.
Maybe 500 into it to start it off, vanguard life strategy fund 100 equity.
Then 1000 emergency fund held in pb?
Then rest in stocks and shares ISA.

( I don't have a pension either and this is pretty much what I have done).

@nannynick Thanks, I'll have a look at that site. It's all the spare money I have, I'm afraid so yes, it is for emergencies only. I can save about £350pm.
@MyDarlingClementine I wouldn't have a clue with stocks and shares ISA so I don't think I can trust them at all.

Most platforms make stocks and shares seem really complicated, but it doesn’t need to be! Tracker funds (which follow the market, not individual companies) are great for simplicity and offer a bit more stability vs individual stocks at very low fees. I spread my risk across UK(FTSE), European mix and US (S&P 500). There have been lots of ups and downs recently, so probably best if you have the intention of keeping it in for at least a couple of years.

If it is your emergency fund, do keep 3-6 months of expenses somewhere super safe, but it sounds like you are able to make ongoing contributions to either a pension or an ISA, and those should be a bit more growth oriented. If you are working, don’t forget the government tip up plus potential tax relief.

The trouble with keeping it all super safe is that inflation will almost certainly exceed returns, meaning your money will be worth less than when invested even if the number amount goes up slightly. My own ISA has an average return of 9% per year over the last 10 years (with some years really positive and some negative), while my husband’s cash ISA has only ever achieved 1-2%

Labrador that's v good.

Averaged out.

Op read about jack Bogle and vanguard.

3 to 6 months of expenses as emergency fund. You want that accessible so use an interest paying current account. Some people (like me) do a combination of current account and NS&I Premium Bonds (no interest but gives a chance of winning a prize).

You do not want to invest your emergency fund.

Once you have a good sized emergency fund then look at Stocks & Shares ISA. It is very easy these days to set one up with a global fund so no stock picking.