Personal Pension Schemes in general

Personal pensions get a lot of bad press, particularly in the current economic climate. OK, so they aren't perfect but they do have plenty of plus sides too. For example: 1. You get tax relief on the contributions you pay in. That's a 20% or 40% return straight away depending upon your usual tax level. There are very very few investments that can offer you that "growth" on day one. 2. Any employer payments that go in are also tax free to the employee 3. If you get a Stakeholder pension they must by law have low charges There are restictions / downsides too such as: 1. Set rules on when and how you can take benefits ...  Read the complete review

It is safe to say that the vast majority of people and in particular those in the under thirty five bracket will fail to set aside enough money for their retirement, as our life expectancy levels get ever greater and the number of retired people grows in relation to the ppulation who are in work then we are faced with an increasing state pension bill and for many this will mean they will have to work longer. There are lots of choices when it comes to planning for your retirement however many of these schems are managed by the same bankers and insurance people who have got the economy into such a mess already so why trust them with your retirement ...  Read the complete review

There is a vast and unjustified hype over pensions with every professional recommending the same product to everybody despite falling annuity rates. Of course rates fluctuate and there will be excellent times to redeem pensions in the future but it is impossible to predict this 60 years in advance and there is little flexibility in terms of when it is practical for most people to buy, I will not be betting my retirement on it. It is often claimed that pensions get tax relief; this is true on a technicality but the annuity is taxed so all you get is the performance on the deferred tax pounds (unless you are a high rate tax payer before retirement and a standard ...  Read the complete review

Pensions are very boring and tend to be neglected until it is too late, so I thought I would write down my thoughts on the subject. I have read quite a few articles in Sunday newspapers that would have you believe that middle-class life has a few simple rules: you should pay X% of your earnings into a pension, from an early age, whether it is a personal one or a company one; most of your salary goes towards your mortgage and the rest goes into a cash ISA. This should continue until you are 65, then you can live off the pension. Finance is simple and compartmentalised. I disagree with some of what these standard articles say, with the exception of one thing, ...  Read the complete review

"Pensions. Hmm, how dull. I don't really want to think about them. I mean, after all, it will be years and years before I retire, right? I've got plenty of time to save up money before then, right?" Wrong. It is never, ever too early to start paying into a pension scheme. This is something I was fortunate enough to learn whilst working as an actuarial clerk for a large insurance company. One of my jobs was to produce statements of "Estimated Benefits", that is, the payments someone was likely to receive on their pension once they retired. Some of these were absolutely pitiful. They ranged from as little as ...  Read the complete review