Investing in pension today

[lollypoppy123]

I am self-employed so don't have regular pension savings but intended to see what cash I could spare at end of tax year and invest that in my pension. I'm 50 and my pension is seriously underfunded.

Is it madness to do this today when the markets are so volatile? Or am I getting a bargain? I realise that no one knows the answer to this but I'm certain that other people have a better instinct for this kind of thing than me!

You could put it in your pension now for tax purposes but not invest it yet. I would be tempted to do this and set up a regular monthly investment which would help a bit with current volatility.

I agree with the previous poster. If you have strong stomach when facing the volatility, investing a lump sum once a year is fine. But if you are not, I would suggest doing a regular investment so you can benefit from the averaging of your investment. I am still investing regularly (monthly, after getting paid) even with the current market volatility.

Oh, that's a good idea. Thank you.

Depending on how long you have until retirement, I'd say its OK to invest. Pension investments are typically for the long haul, and so over 10-15yrs+ the market volatility will even out and should generate growth. If you need the money out sooner, then perhaps reconsider.

I invest in S&S along with pension and I'd be lying if I said it was a nail biting time with the markets currently. But I'm holding my nerve and keeping my investments in place, and continuing to add each month as I know these are savings for long-term (I'm 35, so many years left of work before I'll be looking to use these savings!)

Stick it in a short term money market fund ( unless your Sipp pays a good rate on cash) and then drip feed into investments over the year to smooth out the ‘bumps’.