Pensions

I was clearly in the wrong profession, £560 per hour WTF is that all about and then they want a % if anything that is released. Robbing bastards ☠️

 

Stollydriver.
You're telling me. I hate the things and want to go back to 20 and start again. And it does scare the life out of me when you see it on tv people losing everything they saved for.
Regards
Joe.

 

You are right , it is tricky ! I thought I had a good IFA and when I retired last year we sat down and went through a lot of details in how me/ my wife were going to fund the next few years. We had provided the details of what assets and pensions we had to him a few weeks before so we knew roughly where we stood. On completion of our congenial conversation and his online demonstration of what we would be doing with our funds over the next few years his computer pinged across the spreadsheet an estimated cost for the works done by him to date. This was £16k. I stopped the conversation there and then as we had signed nothing and told him we would not be paying that or anything like that sum of money. Effectively I had asked him to consolidate 2 pensions and move them to his platform. The atmosphere changed there and then in the room. To cut a long story short we finally agreed at a percentage of the value of the moved funds, 2%. After a few exchanged emails, a year on we had our review and I brought up this issue at the start of our meeting. It cleared the air and we moved forward in a happier state of mind. I also asked him for a statement of charges and I am still waiting for that. They take a cut out somewhere and this is well disguised...

 

In all honesty I dont think it is an IFA that you guys need. They will charge a fortune. it is a pension advisor that you want to speak to. Typically they dont charge a fee but charge a percentage of your investment You wouldnt go to the dentist to sort your backache out or the doctor to sort out your toothache. I could give you the name of the guy who looks after mine but I wouldnt want to be seen to be recommending someone for such an important decision

Everyone is entitled to free advice at the below link. Dont just google pensionwise as there are a load of people trying to link into the search. Give the official Government recommended people a call and they will put you in touch with someone

https://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en

 

Pensions advice is a fluid thing. By that I mean its different for everyone depending on the size of their accumulated pension pot prior to retiring and their circumstances etc. etc. Its like a tyre thread on here. Everyone has their favourites and what works for some may not work for others. Having said that I retired about 4 years ago, I took the maximum 25% tax free lump sum out of my pension pot and have a reduced monthly sum paid as a consequence. When I worked out the figures, I would have to live well into my 80's to make up the difference between the reduced monthly income and the higher lump sum I took. It also means I pay little or no income tax on the income I receive. If I can give anyone advice on the subject, it would be to sit down with your partner (if you have one) and an independent financial advisor and look at all the pros and cons before you make a decision.

 

For anyone looking for a Stockbroker to manage their Pension/ISA’s etc. I would recommend Hargreaves Lansdown. They are the ONLY company that Which Magazine recommends and they have been recommending them for years. Their fees are the lowest in the industry, if you need to speak to them, they answer very quickly and 9 times out of 10 the first person you speak to gives you the answer you were after.

I self invest with them, but you can get them to provide advice for a fee. I’m a great fan of the Drawdown Pension, and I beat any endowment/final salary scheme hands down. And when you die 100% goes to your spouse and when they die 100% goes to your beneficiary’s (though there may be some tax implications depending on what they decide to do).

I’m not a financial adviser, but my advice is free.

 

I use HL for my SIPP, I self invest in various funds but I'm now moving everything to the lowest fee index tracker funds. I read the forward & intro of this book, where he says to invest in index tracker funds, the rest of the book explains why, I've not read that yet, but it's been recommended to me several times. Given that your pension is probably your most important investment, it's worth spending a small part of your life understanding money & capitalism, they don't teach it in UK schools, Americans seem far more financially aware than us brits.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0393352242/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

My last weekend off before I retire on Tuesday. Not quite the same impact when in lockdown but so happy I didnt transfer my fund out in Jan/Feb or would have lost a good amount in reduced shares
The plan now is to get it out as quick as I can to buy the shares while prices are low.

 

I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about but I don’t think I’m gonna go back to work when all this shit is over
I’ve just about had a belly full