Self employed pension advice

[Oscha]

I’ve been self employed for the past few years and was paying into a teachers’ pension before that, for 8 years. I’m now 34 and increasingly aware that I need to sort out a private pension. I have googled obviously but there are SO many options, companies and advisors. How does one navigate this? Is a personal recommendation for a financial advisor best? Or is it more sensible to pick one of the bigger companies?

not a direct answer, but if you are self-employed you can buy state pension years at a much reduced rate. This perk is vanishing in the next year or so, get a shift on.

don't buy too many, the goalposts have moved in the past and will move again.

No advice OP but watching with interest.

I opted for a SIPP and select and manage my own funds, although many platforms have ready made portfolios. Unless it was for something particularly complex, I wouldn't go near a financial advisor. No one has a more vested interest in looking after your finances than you.

specialsubject sorry to be dim, but what does that mean? I pay NI already, so isn’t my state pension worked out based on that?

Yes - but if you didn't pay ni some years ( income too low) you can pay voluntarily. Best bet is to order your statement and pension record from gov.UK and see where you stand.

I believe you can find good advice by Googling and reading up on information that's already provided out there. Generally speaking you might want to look for index funds and those with low fees, and avoid fancy products you don't understand. Maybe you want to follow up on specialsubject's two advice, above.

Ah ok, that makes sense, thanks. I know my NI is all up to date (bar the three years I was at university and didn't earn enough - should have paid for those years but that ship has sailed unfortunately!) so I think I'm sorted on that front.

The teachers pension used to be a contracted out scheme, so less ni is paid and a lower state pension is received in return. It may be worth checking if you're affected by this or if you've always paid the full rate.

Oh, I didn’t know that! I checked my state pension online and it looks like all years are paid in full (apart from the uni ones), so maybe it changed before I started teaching...