Pension Advice

[russdev]

Need advice on pensions assume for purpose of this exercise I no longer have access to local government pension scheme. What do people feel are best options for people working in commercial sector when it comes to pensions?

cheers

Russ

[Brpilot99]

A quick question .. are you no longer employed by the LA?

[beeswax]

I suggest you see an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA).

[m25man]

I don't know of a single person that has taken out a personal pension plan who hasn't lost a fortune....
The really big earners who have saved money through tax advantageous pensions seem to be the least affected.

I read this week that only 4% of the currently available savings and pension schemes are ahead of the inflation rate With most performing much worse...

It would seem that the tax free element and government supplement accounts for the largest proportion of any pot you chip into, once locked in your at the mercy of your fund management.

So going it alone and trusting your own instincts with a SIP doesn't seem such a risk anymore!

Hargreaves & Lansdown are a well respected source of information on this subject, but even being FSA registered and having years of experience means nothing - look at Equitable Life how many professionals have had their lives destroyed by these cowboy fund managers...

I know one of them, retired at 40 to a Norfolk estate with his Ferrari and rental property in Portugal.

[Brpilot99]

I tried to do some working out on the LGPS and it seems to be not a bad deal to me ... for example if you earn lets say 10000 pa and you put into the scheme for 1 year ... thats about 5% of your salary =£500.00 for that you get 1/60th of your final salary for life ... thats £166.00 pa .. so your in profit after 3 years ...

[m25man]

That's why LA workers and teachers stay put isn't it? Final salary pension schemes....
It's also why the rest of us will need to work well into our 70's and why more than 50% of my council tax goes towards paying retired LA workers....

Think Ill stop before thread turns into political rant that helps nobody.

[tech_guy]

Spend your money on booze and having a wild time whilst you're still young enough to enjoy such things.

[russdev]

A quick question .. are you no longer employed by the LA?

I am currently in LA just said for purpose of this exercise suppose I wasn't in LGA pension what would my options be. As IFA yes probably going to see one but wanted to get some advice before hand.

Russ

[Brpilot99]

Personal pensions seem to be bad news these days what with management fees and shares on the down !!! I had a decision to make many moons ago regarding pensions .. I was an IFA at the time so saw what the problems were in the industry .... After a lot of thought about the future I decided not to invest but to purchase a 2nd property in Bristol ... I had a mortgage on my own house but had some equity so I remortgages and bought in a popular student area .... The rent just about covered the mortgage To cut a long story short after 25 years the property was sold for a net profit of £100.000 .... Thats a heck of a lot more than I could get from a private pension scheme I have now reinvested the cash in another property and am getting a very decent income from it ... Also I have something I can leave to my hiers when I pop off ... Thats more than you can say about a pension !!!!!!!!!!!

[steve]

You are usually better of being in whatever company scheme is available if the company is contributing to it too.

[tech_guy]

Back in the early to mid 1990s I worked in investments and insurance and things haven't changed much since then.

The old adage is still true - don't put all your eggs into one basket. Go for some stocks and shares, some bonds, some gilts. Property if you can afford it. And currency if you can dabble in it.

Make sure you use your tax exempt savings allowances every year if you can, and if you have over £50k in savings don't keep it all in the same bank, spread it between banking companies.