PENSIONS WHEN SELF EMPLOYED

[Blondeshavemorefun]

I'm se. Have been for maybe 14yrs

I started a pension when I was 18 due to my dad but put in £20 a month.

I've done this for 30yrs - I wish I had upped my monthly payment but didn't

Hindsight etx

As I'm se I don't have employers adding % to my pension

I'm not sure what the best company is to either move my pension or leave where it's been for past 30yrs doing not a lot

I am going to start paying extra in when I work more /maybe win on pb etx - my dad said any amount extra in is a bonus

So checked and I can pay in ad hoc so that's good

So my question is

How do you choose where your pension goes - which company is best

Thanks

@Glamorous24 least you have a pension from employment

When I was employed so think 2010/11 briefly there was no pension Included

Thanks @nannynick

Sounds like vanguard is the way to go

I will have a proper read tonight once mini blondes is in bed

I personally use vanguard and I also have a low cost Scottish widows plan from an old employer. When you haven’t saved much it’s important imo to avoid fees - including financial advisor fees. I tend to go for low cost index funds on vanguard.

there’s no one right answer. It depends on your appetite for risk but generally lower cost passive funds are the most effective option.

Vanguard Sipp only lets you invest in Vanguard funds.
Their popular lifestrategy range is massively overweighted to the UK.
Best to go with a low charges Sipp but be aware of charges down the line when you access the pension.

We are both with Hargreaves Lansdown,
not the cheapest but they are user friendly and also have an ‘active savings’ product where you can find great rates.

Just invest in a low cost Global tracker and/or a Mixed asset fund and you have a ready made / auto balancing, diversified portfolio.
£240 a month gives you £3600 a year gross with the added tax relief and if you are a higher earner you can claim an extra 20% on top.

https://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for-your-future/pensions/the-best-cheapest-sipps-low-cost-diy-pensions/amp

@BorgQueen sorry what does that mean

Can only invest vanguard funds

I know nothing about pensions tbh

Which is shameful as on a lot of financial stuff I'm quite savvy

If I didn't see a financial adviser to sort my pension it would not be making what it is, which I'd exponentially more than the one-off fee they charged me.

I'm a financial adviser in another area and I'd not have a clue about pensions because they're very complex.

AJ Bell only charge £1.50 per investment too.

HL gives access to many funds from different providers.
Vanguard only gives access to their own funds, and only to some of those, not everything they do. Not a problem in my view, especially now that they do an accumulation version of FTSE Developed World, with a 0.12% ongoing charge.
See the range of funds at: https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/what-we-offer/all-products-cards

@Blondeshavemorefun Just get started. Pick a fund, find the cheapest platform that is on, and start there. You can change fund, you can change platform. See the video I posted earlier.

The UK is around 5% of the developed World’s markets, with HL Lifestrategy funds, they have 20% in UK funds, so whilst UK markets are under performing, there is a ‘dragging’ effect that pulls the performance down over the long term.
I’m 57 and invest my Sipp in Fidelity Index world ( 100% equities) , HSBC Global strategy dynamic ( mixed asset - 70% equities and 30% bonds/property) and HSBC FTSE All World Index ( All World means it includes emerging markets) . They are all low charges.
I no longer have Vanguard Lifestrategy 80 but DH still holds around 10% of his pension in it.
DH is self employed and pays £5k gross into his Sipp, he employs me to do his accounts so I can now put all my £7k wages into my Sipp and with the tax/NI saving to DH it only costs £3600 in real terms.
He wants to retire in 4 years so we’re chucking everything we can into pensions.

Those of you that have seen a financial advisor, how much did you pay for that? DH is self employed and has no pension at all at the moment. We have quite a bit of spare cash to put away each month but I have no idea whether a pension is the best place to put it or whether he’s better off putting it into his LISA or some other investment pot.

Head explodes 😂

Thanks for all replies

Out of interest, what did he recommend? Is it something couldn’t have accessed yourself?

You can access it direct with A J Bell but I would not have known the funds to put my pension in that fit me.

My pension adviser charged me a very nominal fee to guide me, but we have a cross over of business.

He has spent hours with me completing risk assessments, and giving me guidance.

Yes - for my purposes the choice of funds at vanguard is enough. There is global equities, uk equities, Asian, developing nations, etc. I prefer passive funds and there’s plenty to choose from.

in a previous job I worked in the city with fund managers- imo the type of funds you are getting in a standard pension wrapper are much of a muchness. It’s not possible to predict with any accuracy how well they will do so I prefer to save on charges which is a sure way to increase the value.

So not to be too nosy but what sort of advice did he give you and what did he charge? Not at all saying it wasn’t right for you, just checking I’m not missing out!

We went through my whole finances, then I also have inheritance potentially over the next few years. Due to this we went over when I want to retire and varying scenarios to ascertain how much I need to pay into my pension to make it happen. We discussed overpayment of our mortgage, whether it's worth it, etc but it turns out the return on my pension is significantly better than the rate on my mortgage so the concensus was to pay more towards my pension. Caveat being I'm hitting higher rate tax and I'm wanting to retire in a maximum of 17.5 years.

He charged me £200 as a one off fee and he's made me thousands. We also check in annually minimum and if I need to tweak he tells me.

I have never paid upfront to see a financial advisor and put it off for years thinking it would cost a fortune. Each time they've just taken payment from whatever fund they've moved me to - and it's been such a relief to get advice. For very personal reasons, I got advice and it saved me having to sell my house to afford to live. Im now drawing down on my pension and am much more comfortable/can do the small things I want to do which I needed extra cash for. It's not an option for everyone but in my situation it is. By the time I am 67 I may not have my health, which was one of the deciding factors in working very part time now.

Vanguard works for me also. It’s easy to do and easy to see on line. Low fees work and having a choice within their ranges means still choice but as I don’t know too much too chose each fund I prefer having their elections, as let’s have affordable experts. Don’t regret Vanguard, I relish it. And so easy to make one off payments from own or company cards.

I think that's what worries me

I don't know what to choose once chose a company

Vanguard sounds the best and many of you with them

@nannynick is quite savy so if he thinks it's good ......

Aged 53, have about £350k in funds and a small extra final salary fund. Was paying in about £900/ month until recently into a combo of employer and other private fund. Now due to job change and lower salary have bunged £20k in an isa and am saving about £250 between private and personal plans and will do this for as long as I work at the current salary level.

Sorry, posted before I added, I use a FA to help me invest part of the funds, others are with Scottish Widows but the performance hasn't been great so am considering moving it.

You are all so Rich. I don't have a spare £250/500/900 a month to put away

This might help a bit white looking at how much you ideally want to be saving.

https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/pensions-retirement/managing-a-pension/paying-into-your-pension#:~:text=Some%20advisers%20recommend%20that%20you,12.5%25%20of%20your%20monthly%20salary.

Definitely not rich. I am just fortunate that I earn commission which pays for my pension contributions, otherwise I'd be paying £75 per month into my pension and never retiring.

Its tax efficient for us, it comes off our profits before tax so we dont pay CT on the pensions contributions.
It doesnt matter that you can only do a bit now, just keep going and increase it when you can

I Plan to do as and when if had a good month

Plus I've done £50 from £24 so doubling my monthly dd