I have some money sitting in a SIPP. What should I invest in?

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

I have made some poor decisions in the past, long story, but I have ended up with some money sitting in a SIPP, this is my only pension. I am 47 so haven't years to invest, and am on a low income so not much chance of adding to the pot. I have bought into an ethical trust fund but there is still some cash left in the SIPP. What do you think, single shares? or more funds? or something like gold or silver? It has to stay in the SIPP, it's not money to spend if you see what I mean but I want to invest it wisely. I don't want to go to an IFA as I have had my fingers burned in the past more than once, been given duff advice and charged a fortune in fees. Would love any ideas, or any female friendly money or investment blogs would also be welcome. Thanks.

I think you need to split this decision into a number of questions:

1. Is your money best off staying in this product or transferring to another personal pension? You need to make sure you know what charges are applying to your investments. I imagine SIPP charges will be higher than a standard personal pension, and that will eat into your fund unless you really need that flexibility to self-invest. You should be able to transfer to a personal pension with this company another provider if you wish.

1. What type of assets do you want to invest in? Shares, bonds, property, cash? Typical advice would be to invest some in shares at your age, but I'm not in a position to give financial advice. By the way, I didn't think gold & silver were permitted in a pension, but the rules may allow it for SIPP, I can't remember.

1. What is the most cost effective way of investing in the type of assets you are interested in? If you are going to spend time selecting shares and actively manage your fund, then you'll have to do some research and keep up to date. But frankly, for many people, just bunging it in an equity tracker works - expenses are low and trackers are often shown to outperform investment managers.

I'm only a few years younger than you. I work in the life insurance industry, have sat exams on investment, have a fair bit of experience with the personal pension market, but I just put most of my own pension money in UK and global equity trackers (with pretty low charges), in the hope that I'll get reasonable returns (higher than inflation).