SIPPS/PENSIONS ETC

[Turkish]

i have been advised to consolidate all of my workplace pensions (not my current one) and stick it all in a SIPP. Anyone else done this? Worth it or not?

[benjii]

Watch out for badly dressed spivs.

[Farmer Saint]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

i have been advised to consolidate all of my workplace pensions (not my current one) and stick it all in a SIPP. Anyone else done this? Worth it or not?

I did mine via PensionBee. Worthwhile or you may lose them if you have a lot.

[Turkish]

30 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

I did mine via PensionBee. Worthwhile or you may lose them if you have a lot.

Been recomended Hargreaves Lansdown, i've got a decent amount to put in and apparently with them you can chose your own investments, a mate of mine joined their SIPP two months ago and has made about 8% so far.

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Been recomended Hargreaves Lansdown, i've got a decent amount to put in and apparently with them you can chose your own investments, a mate of mine joined their SIPP two months ago and has made about 8% so far.

Yeah, but stocks have been up and down so I wouldn't read anything into that - uncertainty breeds money.

I also wouldn't choose your own investments - they are experts for a reason, and your pension isn't a place to be playing stocks and shares.

If you have a fair amount then maybe your off the shelf providers aren't who you want to use, and someone more like HL would be better, but your fees will be higher as well.

[AlexLaw76]

Whack it all on BitCoin, or Apple, or Amazon

HTH

[spyinthesky]

37 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Whack it all on BitCoin, or Apple, or Amazon

HTH

Since the Donald's reversal of opinion and now supports Bitcoin, the 'value' has soared to $120,000.
I have sold all my properties, gold bars, whisky kegs, both my Rolex Submariner watches, divested myself of all my Lebanese pounds and Iranian Rials and am now fully into Bitcoin.
What could go wrong?

[The Kraken]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

Been recomended Hargreaves Lansdown, i've got a decent amount to put in and apparently with them you can chose your own investments, a mate of mine joined their SIPP two months ago and has made about 8% so far.

I did this with my pensions quite a few years ago. I use HL for my SIPPs and my ISAs. HL are very good but their platform fees are a bit higher than other competitors so it’s worth shopping around.  The front end is super simple though. Im fairly risk averse and usually have 5 or 6 managed funds on the go at any time, I review them fairly often and end up switching if a particular one is underperforming.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to performance in the past two months. Depends what type of funds you’re in (uk only, Europe, USA, worldwide) but when Trump went tariff happy a few months ago my funds lost about 20% within a week. I’ve just about clawed that back by now. So if you looked at a two month performance chart you’d say my funds have gone up 15%-20%, but in reality the market has just reset itself somewhat.

[Turkish]

22 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

I did this with my pensions quite a few years ago. I use HL for my SIPPs and my ISAs. HL are very good but their platform fees are a bit higher than other competitors so it’s worth shopping around.  The front end is super simple though. Im fairly risk averse and usually have 5 or 6 managed funds on the go at any time, I review them fairly often and end up switching if a particular one is underperforming.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to performance in the past two months. Depends what type of funds you’re in (uk only, Europe, USA, worldwide) but when Trump went tariff happy a few months ago my funds lost about 20% within a week. I’ve just about clawed that back by now. So if you looked at a two month performance chart you’d say my funds have gone up 15%-20%, but in reality the market has just reset itself somewhat.

Thanks that’s what I’m planning to do, split the pension across 6 or so different funds and leave it long term. I’ve had this money sitting there for ages so makes sense to try and use it a bit more wisely. If/when I leave my current job I’ll do the same with that and stick that in the same SIPP too. 

[The Kraken]

14 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Thanks that’s what I’m planning to do, split the pension across 6 or so different funds and leave it long term. I’ve had this money sitting there for ages so makes sense to try and use it a bit more wisely. If/when I leave my current job I’ll do the same with that and stick that in the same SIPP too. 

I find it really easy to have all mine in the same place. And to feel like I’m in control of what’s happening. With managed funds you’re taking a good amount of risk out of it. It may well be that your previous investments are doing ok. But I found with one from my old work that the management fee per annum was higher than what I’d have been paying via HL and the fund(s) and the performance had been pretty shoddy, so it was well worth my while moving.

[egg]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

Been recomended Hargreaves Lansdown, i've got a decent amount to put in and apparently with them you can chose your own investments, a mate of mine joined their SIPP two months ago and has made about 8% so far.

I currently use HL for my SIPP (I consolidated too) and it is a decent platform. The platform fee is high though, and do you really trust yourself to make sound investment decisions? I've made all sorts of mistakes and am in the process of handing mine over to an IFA. 

I'd ignore the last 2 months. It's not growth as such, it's mostly wiping out earlier losses after Trump's nonsense.

If you've got a decent pot, I'd suggest finding a recommended IFA and leaving them to it - it shouldn't cost much if any more than the HL platform fees. 

[egg]

12 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

I find it really easy to have all mine in the same place. And to feel like I’m in control of what’s happening. With managed funds you’re taking a good amount of risk out of it. It may well be that your previous investments are doing ok. But I found with one from my old work that the management fee per annum was higher than what I’d have been paying via HL and the fund(s) and the performance had been pretty shoddy, so it was well worth my while moving.

Although I agree with that, some managed funds are rubbish, and some attract chunky fees on top of the HL platform. I've enjoyed managing mine, but I've had to concede that I'm shit at it and cost myself a lot of money with some of my choices. 

[AlexLaw76]

Buy a property and rent it out 

[egg]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

Buy a property and rent it out 

One property, no. A portfolio, yes, and only then with limited company ownership, especially for higher rate tax payers.

One or two, in your own name, ain't great in void periods, and mortgage interest is not tax deductable. Own within a company and the mortgage interest is tax deductable, and the profits can be used to fund tax deductable pension payments.  Far more sensible than paying tax on rent on non company owned property. 

 

[The Kraken]

6 minutes ago, egg said:

If you've got a decent pot, I'd suggest finding a recommended IFA and leaving them to it - it shouldn't cost much if any more than the HL platform fees. 

It depends what the IFA does with the money.  If, as many do, they’re just putting it into a managed fund for you and charging 1.5% for the privilege, it’s not offering great value over self investing. There’s more of a risk by doing it yourself, I suppose, but as long as you’re using well recognised managed funds, the risk is minimised. And there’s no guarantees that the funds the IFA picks for you are going to be the best out there.  So long as you don’t mind keeping a track on your funds, how they’re doing, and switching up if underperforming, I think HL is the way to go personally.

Admittedly I haven’t used an IFA for some time now, but when I did all they did was put my cash into managed funds and I got a review every year. Didn’t offer anything that I couldn’t do myself, and take the risk out of it by opting for well reviewed and backed funds.

The I did get fucked over by the Woodford fund debacle mind. So swings and roundabouts. But I have no qualms whatsoever of my annual returns over the past decade or more.

 

[Turkish]

7 minutes ago, egg said:

Although I agree with that, some managed funds are rubbish, and some attract chunky fees on top of the HL platform. I've enjoyed managing mine, but I've had to concede that I'm shit at it and cost myself a lot of money with some of my choices. 

 

Just now, egg said:

One property, no. A portfolio, yes, and only then with limited company ownership, especially for higher rate tax payers.

One or two, in your own name, ain't great in void periods, and mortgage interest is not tax deductable. Own within a company and the mortgage interest is tax deductable, and the profits can be used to fund tax deductable pension payments.  Far more sensible than paying tax on rent on non company owned property. 

 

I have a couple of mates who are very into investments so i'll follow their lead on this sort of stuff, i need to do my own research too.

 

As for properties, agree. My plan was to buy one and rent it but it doesn't seem worth it. Two friends of mine are landlords, one owns 5 properties he lets to students the other owns 6 flats which he rents to profesionals, it works for them but if you're just going to have one and rent it out whilst also having a normal job from what i've seen it's not worth the hassle unless you have no mortgage on it and can buy it outright.

[egg]

1 minute ago, The Kraken said:

It depends what the IFA does with the money.  If, as many do, they’re just putting it into a managed fund for you and charging 1.5% for the privilege, it’s not offering great value over self investing. There’s more of a risk by doing it yourself, I suppose, but as long as you’re using well recognised managed funds, the risk is minimised. And there’s no guarantees that the funds the IFA picks for you are going to be the best out there.  So long as you don’t mind keeping a track on your funds, how they’re doing, and switching up if underperforming, I think HL is the way to go personally.

Admittedly I haven’t used an IFA for some time now, but when I did all they did was put my cash into managed funds and I got a review every year. Didn’t offer anything that I couldn’t do myself, and take the risk out of it by opting for well reviewed and backed funds.

The I did get fucked over by the Woodford fund debacle mind. So swings and roundabouts. But I have no qualms whatsoever of my annual returns over the past decade or more.

 

I'd caution against suggesting to someone to pick a managed fund. I've got loads of managed funds, and had others which I've ditched. The performance between them is so variable it's ridiculous. I spread my risk, and research via Trustnet and others, but I've got it wrong big time.

I don't think people can safely pick between managed funds which may be, for example, US focused as against UK focused, 20% bonds or more, or all stock. It's an absolute minefield and a decent IFA will have access to decent people to pick the managed funds, and change when necessary. 

[The Kraken]

10 minutes ago, egg said:

I'd caution against suggesting to someone to pick a managed fund. I've got loads of managed funds, and had others which I've ditched. The performance between them is so variable it's ridiculous. I spread my risk, and research via Trustnet and others, but I've got it wrong big time.

I don't think people can safely pick between managed funds which may be, for example, US focused as against UK focused, 20% bonds or more, or all stock. It's an absolute minefield and a decent IFA will have access to decent people to pick the managed funds, and change when necessary. 

It’s a fair comment, but Turkish sounds like he’s got a couple of mates who know what they’re doing so he can get some good advice from them.

The nature of funds is that they’re very up and down. The best IFA isn’t going to make zero mistakes, or pick the best funds all the time. Sure, they’ll avoid the big mistakes that an amateur will, but no guarantees of future performance.

Finance is a personal thing, so you’re right to point out that me saying that what is good for me should be good for someone else is not a global statement to make. Fair point. But Turkish seems to be along that path of thinking already, so maybe just a bit if positive reinforcement 😉

[egg]

6 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

It’s a fair comment, but Turkish sounds like he’s got a couple of mates who know what they’re doing so he can get some good advice from them.

The nature of funds is that they’re very up and down. The best IFA isn’t going to make zero mistakes, or pick the best funds all the time. Sure, they’ll avoid the big mistakes that an amateur will, but no guarantees of future performance.

Finance is a personal thing, so you’re right to point out that me saying that what is good for me should be good for someone else is not a global statement to make. Fair point. But Turkish seems to be along that path of thinking already, so maybe just a bit if positive reinforcement 😉

It's Turk's money, so whether he goes DIY or pays someone is up to him. I can only speak from experience, and I reckon my retirement would be arriving a couple of years sooner if I'd acknowledged sooner that others are better at managing my cash than me!

[Tamesaint]

There is an awful lot of sensible advice on here. I use HL and although their fees are annoyingly high they do have a good website and app. They are however prone to push certain funds at the expense of others. Their "Wealth Shortlist funds" are often not the best performers in their sector. Maybe they earn better commission on their Wealth funds. 

It is essential to keep an eye on how your investments are performing. Bad performers need to be ditched fast. You always get told that past performance is no guarantee of future performance but in the same way that you know that Liverpool will always be near the top of the PL, so you find that the better fund managers tend to get consistently the best results. 

 

 

[The Kraken]

42 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

There is an awful lot of sensible advice on here. I use HL and although their fees are annoyingly high they do have a good website and app. They are however prone to push certain funds at the expense of others. Their "Wealth Shortlist funds" are often not the best performers in their sector. Maybe they earn better commission on their Wealth funds. 

It is essential to keep an eye on how your investments are performing. Bad performers need to be ditched fast. You always get told that past performance is no guarantee of future performance but in the same way that you know that Liverpool will always be near the top of the PL, so you find that the better fund managers tend to get consistently the best results. 

 

 

Definitely. I learned the hard way via the Woodford fund collapse (that HL backed to the hilt) that their recommendations are to be taken with a massive pinch of salt.  Thankfully I’ve just had a small financial return on all that unsavoury business via a settled court case, but I still took a decent percentage haircut on the whole thing (thankfully it wasn’t a big amount for me overall). So, yeah, HL have their own interests in mind.

As you said, there is a wealth of information out there and many many reviews of managed funds. And again as you say, past performance is no guarantee of anything, but certain fund managers and companies tend to build themselves something of a reputation. I now stick with established companies with known entities behind them, and a lower risk profile. 

Maybe egg is right, maybe an IFA could get me better returns, but I’m not necessarily sure. In fact I actually sat with a very good friend of my folks in the past few months who has been a financial adviser most of his life and co owns a company with around 50 staff. I showed him my HL and said I wouldn’t be averse to moving to him if there was a compelling case to do so, he was very honest and said he couldn’t guarantee it and my investments looks pretty sensible.

[egg]

9 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Definitely. I learned the hard way via the Woodford fund collapse (that HL backed to the hilt) that their recommendations are to be taken with a massive pinch of salt.  Thankfully I’ve just had a small financial return on all that unsavoury business via a settled court case, but I still took a decent percentage haircut on the whole thing (thankfully it wasn’t a big amount for me overall). So, yeah, HL have their own interests in mind.

As you said, there is a wealth of information out there and many many reviews of managed funds. And again as you say, past performance is no guarantee of anything, but certain fund managers and companies tend to build themselves something of a reputation. I now stick with established companies with known entities behind them, and a lower risk profile. 

Maybe egg is right, maybe an IFA could get me better returns, but I’m not necessarily sure. In fact I actually sat with a very good friend of my folks in the past few months who has been a financial adviser most of his life and co owns a company with around 50 staff. I showed him my HL and said I wouldn’t be averse to moving to him if there was a compelling case to do so, he was very honest and said he couldn’t guarantee it and my investments looks pretty sensible.

HL have some shockers on their wealth shortlist. Example. They back Baillie Gifford Managed which has been awful over the past 5 years, albeit it's had a solid last year or so. Managed funds like M&G Managed Growth, and countless others, consistently blow it out of the water. 

Sounds like you've done it well. I've got friends who manage their pots really well and If I was 10 years younger I think I'd keep self investing, but I want to put my feet up relatively soon, so needed to leave it to someone else. I'll miss the excitement of it though. 

[ecuk268]

10 hours ago, Turkish said:

i have been advised to consolidate all of my workplace pensions (not my current one) and stick it all in a SIPP. Anyone else done this? Worth it or not?

I did it before I retired in 2016. 

I used a financial advisor that had been recommended and he did all the work.

I now draw down a monthly payment from my SIPP and the financial advisor manages the lump sum. 

After 9 years the lump,sum is still the same as when I started, obviously gone down in real terms due to inflation but still sufficient for a good few years.

I know people  who manage their own SIPPs but they spend a lot of time researching and analysing the financial markets. I've not got the inclination or the ability to do this so I prefer to let a professional do it.

[benjii]

Just stick it all in Vanguard World ETF. It's a beast.