Pension consolidation and management
Discussion
LeoSayer said:
Interesting summary. Last year, Hellen committed the Fed to two further rate rises in 2017 so the response over the next couple of months will be watched carefully. It may be that the market settles down again. Instinct alone tells me that there won't be a bloodbath anytime soon but we still see sustained pressure on bond prices as the markets try and capture upsides in the event of the next (?) rate rise.I can't see how bonds can continue as they have been though, but it might simply be that we do what we always do best - kick the can down the road. If we see inflation nudging 4% here by the end of this year, if dividends and company NAV/MAA are relatively high anyway.. it's going to be interesting. On the other side of the coin of course, for some, low bond prices are an opportunity to buy. Depends on your circumstances!
Talking of a potential flight to equity drive by inflation, CPI is on the march again. It has risen to 2.3% (up from 1.9%) and above the target of 2%. ONS data just released.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpricein...
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpricein...
Small update.
I'm starting to regret setting up my accounts with AJ Bell / Youinvest...
They're an information black hole. Nothing I do seems to get a confirmation email to say it worked. Everything seems to take an age to actually happen.
Pensions are supposedly transferring into the SIPP. I understand that can take a while, but I haven't got so much as a confirmation email to say that's in progress. There's nothing on the portal showing the status either, nor any hint that the transfers exist. I requested an update using the message system. No answer. Looks like I'm going to have to actually pick up a telephone to find out what's going on...
I transferred cash to a JISA yesterday (debit card transaction) and it hasn't appeared yet, nor has it left my bank account. They say it can take a day (which is ridiculous for a debit card payment, but ok). Nor do I have any email record of the transaction taking place. Nor does the pending transaction show on the portal anywhere. Nor could I change the billing addressee from my daughter's name to mine (why would they think a JISA holder is making their own payments in?)
The portal is riddled with mistakes and also shows error pages very often. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt on the errors because of the time of year, but the broken features are just poor implementation.
I have zero confidence that anything is actually happening. It might well all be fine in the background, but the customer/user experience is p*ss poor so far.
I'm holding on to the hope that this is all one-time setup stuff, and that the monthly management tasks later will be more straight forward. I think I'll be looking to try somewhere else in a year regardless.
I'm starting to regret setting up my accounts with AJ Bell / Youinvest...
They're an information black hole. Nothing I do seems to get a confirmation email to say it worked. Everything seems to take an age to actually happen.
Pensions are supposedly transferring into the SIPP. I understand that can take a while, but I haven't got so much as a confirmation email to say that's in progress. There's nothing on the portal showing the status either, nor any hint that the transfers exist. I requested an update using the message system. No answer. Looks like I'm going to have to actually pick up a telephone to find out what's going on...
I transferred cash to a JISA yesterday (debit card transaction) and it hasn't appeared yet, nor has it left my bank account. They say it can take a day (which is ridiculous for a debit card payment, but ok). Nor do I have any email record of the transaction taking place. Nor does the pending transaction show on the portal anywhere. Nor could I change the billing addressee from my daughter's name to mine (why would they think a JISA holder is making their own payments in?)
The portal is riddled with mistakes and also shows error pages very often. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt on the errors because of the time of year, but the broken features are just poor implementation.
I have zero confidence that anything is actually happening. It might well all be fine in the background, but the customer/user experience is p*ss poor so far.
I'm holding on to the hope that this is all one-time setup stuff, and that the monthly management tasks later will be more straight forward. I think I'll be looking to try somewhere else in a year regardless.
For the past couple of years, many/most financial services providers have been using IT systems that have been amalgamated, patched and fixed. They're showing their age, and changing them is costly and takes time. Old Mutual's bill reached £279m the other week and will rise further, I'm sure.
On the plus side, don't forget, if you're saving for a 16 and 17-year-old, and have spare cash ringfenced for them, they currently get two ISA allowances - the Junior ISA allowance and the adult cash ISA allowance.
On the plus side, don't forget, if you're saving for a 16 and 17-year-old, and have spare cash ringfenced for them, they currently get two ISA allowances - the Junior ISA allowance and the adult cash ISA allowance.
I'm still finding Youinvest portal to be rather rubbish.
No actions seem to generate a confirmation of any sort, either on the portal or by email. And anything "in progress" like cash transfers inwards, you just have to hope and pray the action you performed was successful and wait till the next day to see if anything happens. 1 out of a handful has failed because I couldn't tell whether to resubmit (and risk two transactions occurring). It's absolutely cr*p to be honest.
I did get a response from Youinvest support about my pension transfers. They haven't even started yet. I'm pretty furious about that.
Despite filling in all the forms online during the SIPP applciation AND following the instructions they sent to fill in further forms online (the same information again), they actually need a paper form filled in too. Which is fair enough (HL require a paper signature too), except Youinvest don't send you the form you need when you open the SIPP (they claim they did, but I've checked... they actually sent a link to download the paper form, but the link is broken and takes you to the online form instead, which I did complete and submit, thinking that's what they wanted. Total cr*p, and a waste of 6 weeks.
So, all in all, they're not winning my affections, but I'm stuck with them now.
Pension transfers still pending.
I've put the kids' JISA funds into LifeStrategy 80 for now. I'll shift it to LS60,40,20 over the years as they get closer to receiving them.
I'm about to put my ISA allowance into LifeStrategy 20, but I can't work out from the website how to pay the trade fees from separate cash, not from my ISA allowance, or whether I can pay more than the £20k into the ISA to cover fees. It's just not clear how to do this, so I've had to go back to support for help. Again, not impressed with the lack of usability. I did a quick Google search and it seems HL have all the help you could need on how to do this if you're an HL customer, but Youinvest don't make it clear.
No actions seem to generate a confirmation of any sort, either on the portal or by email. And anything "in progress" like cash transfers inwards, you just have to hope and pray the action you performed was successful and wait till the next day to see if anything happens. 1 out of a handful has failed because I couldn't tell whether to resubmit (and risk two transactions occurring). It's absolutely cr*p to be honest.
I did get a response from Youinvest support about my pension transfers. They haven't even started yet. I'm pretty furious about that.
Despite filling in all the forms online during the SIPP applciation AND following the instructions they sent to fill in further forms online (the same information again), they actually need a paper form filled in too. Which is fair enough (HL require a paper signature too), except Youinvest don't send you the form you need when you open the SIPP (they claim they did, but I've checked... they actually sent a link to download the paper form, but the link is broken and takes you to the online form instead, which I did complete and submit, thinking that's what they wanted. Total cr*p, and a waste of 6 weeks.
So, all in all, they're not winning my affections, but I'm stuck with them now.
Pension transfers still pending.
I've put the kids' JISA funds into LifeStrategy 80 for now. I'll shift it to LS60,40,20 over the years as they get closer to receiving them.
I'm about to put my ISA allowance into LifeStrategy 20, but I can't work out from the website how to pay the trade fees from separate cash, not from my ISA allowance, or whether I can pay more than the £20k into the ISA to cover fees. It's just not clear how to do this, so I've had to go back to support for help. Again, not impressed with the lack of usability. I did a quick Google search and it seems HL have all the help you could need on how to do this if you're an HL customer, but Youinvest don't make it clear.
It took a few attempts to get a straight answer from AJ Bell/Youinvest on the ISA fees:
Trade fees will be deducted from your £20,000 ISA balance. You cannot maintain a separate pot of cash from which you pay your fees. You cannot oversubscribe the ISA to cover fees.
That's rather cr*p!
According to their website, HL allow you to buy using your full £20,000 allowance and pay your trade fees from a separate cash account.
I'm going to calm down a bit and consider whether to just move to HL, or throw the whole bloody lot at Ginge and get back to my day job...
From http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/freque...
Trade fees will be deducted from your £20,000 ISA balance. You cannot maintain a separate pot of cash from which you pay your fees. You cannot oversubscribe the ISA to cover fees.
That's rather cr*p!
According to their website, HL allow you to buy using your full £20,000 allowance and pay your trade fees from a separate cash account.
I'm going to calm down a bit and consider whether to just move to HL, or throw the whole bloody lot at Ginge and get back to my day job...
From http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/freque...
HL FAQs said:
How can I pay fees from outside my ISA?
If you choose not to hold cash within your account or do not wish to use cash from within a tax wrapper (ISA/SIPP) to pay fees, you can choose to have all fees collected from the Fund & Share Account.
To choose this option:
Go to the 'Account Settings' section of your account
Select the ‘Fee and Minimum Cash Balance’ tab
Follow the proceeding onscreen instructions
Click on 'Fee collection options'
Follow the onscreen instructions to edit your fee collection method
If you choose not to hold cash within your account or do not wish to use cash from within a tax wrapper (ISA/SIPP) to pay fees, you can choose to have all fees collected from the Fund & Share Account.
To choose this option:
Go to the 'Account Settings' section of your account
Select the ‘Fee and Minimum Cash Balance’ tab
Follow the proceeding onscreen instructions
Click on 'Fee collection options'
Follow the onscreen instructions to edit your fee collection method
Edited by TartanPaint on Thursday 13th April 16:50
Ginge R said:
For the past couple of years, many/most financial services providers have been using IT systems that have been amalgamated, patched and fixed. They're showing their age, and changing them is costly and takes time. Old Mutual's bill reached £279m the other week and will rise further, I'm sure.
On the plus side, don't forget, if you're saving for a 16 and 17-year-old, and have spare cash ringfenced for them, they currently get two ISA allowances - the Junior ISA allowance and the adult cash ISA allowance.
£20k max over all types though - is the Junior ISA exempt from this..?On the plus side, don't forget, if you're saving for a 16 and 17-year-old, and have spare cash ringfenced for them, they currently get two ISA allowances - the Junior ISA allowance and the adult cash ISA allowance.
Cheers Al
Julian
Just checked that the guidance hadn't changed! If a child is aged 16 or 17, they can take out an (adult) cash ISA (£20,000 pa), as well as up to £4,128 in a Junior ISA.
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/...
TP,
lol, I feel your pain. Do nothing as a reaction, let the waters settle. If I can help you, if you want to keep it there, drop me a line. I know someone at AJB who can probably assist, and I'll happily give them a nudge for you if you like.
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/...
TP,
lol, I feel your pain. Do nothing as a reaction, let the waters settle. If I can help you, if you want to keep it there, drop me a line. I know someone at AJB who can probably assist, and I'll happily give them a nudge for you if you like.
TartanPaint said:
It took a few attempts to get a straight answer from AJ Bell/Youinvest on the ISA fees:
Trade fees will be deducted from your £20,000 ISA balance. You cannot maintain a separate pot of cash from which you pay your fees. You cannot oversubscribe the ISA to cover fees.
That's rather cr*p!
According to their website, HL allow you to buy using your full £20,000 allowance and pay your trade fees from a separate cash account.
I'm going to calm down a bit and consider whether to just move to HL, or throw the whole bloody lot at Ginge and get back to my day job...
From http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/freque...
Interesting. I briefly considered Hargreaves-Lansdown and was heard by my local WH Ireland, Coutts and Brewin Dolphin. I suppose I just want a solid IFA to monitor events for me. One would only cost me a little more than what a broker may require.Trade fees will be deducted from your £20,000 ISA balance. You cannot maintain a separate pot of cash from which you pay your fees. You cannot oversubscribe the ISA to cover fees.
That's rather cr*p!
According to their website, HL allow you to buy using your full £20,000 allowance and pay your trade fees from a separate cash account.
I'm going to calm down a bit and consider whether to just move to HL, or throw the whole bloody lot at Ginge and get back to my day job...
From http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/freque...
HL FAQs said:
How can I pay fees from outside my ISA?
If you choose not to hold cash within your account or do not wish to use cash from within a tax wrapper (ISA/SIPP) to pay fees, you can choose to have all fees collected from the Fund & Share Account.
To choose this option:
Go to the 'Account Settings' section of your account
Select the ‘Fee and Minimum Cash Balance’ tab
Follow the proceeding onscreen instructions
Click on 'Fee collection options'
Follow the onscreen instructions to edit your fee collection method
If you choose not to hold cash within your account or do not wish to use cash from within a tax wrapper (ISA/SIPP) to pay fees, you can choose to have all fees collected from the Fund & Share Account.
To choose this option:
Go to the 'Account Settings' section of your account
Select the ‘Fee and Minimum Cash Balance’ tab
Follow the proceeding onscreen instructions
Click on 'Fee collection options'
Follow the onscreen instructions to edit your fee collection method
Edited by TartanPaint on Thursday 13th April 16:50
I've left my SIPP, ISA and a couple of JISAs with YouInvest, after a rocky start with their transfer service and some website annoyances.
I don't need to interact with it much. Most of my frustrations have evaporated over time without me moving to HL in a rage. I guess I got used to it.
I don't need to interact with it much. Most of my frustrations have evaporated over time without me moving to HL in a rage. I guess I got used to it.
TartanPaint said:
I've left my SIPP, ISA and a couple of JISAs with YouInvest, after a rocky start with their transfer service and some website annoyances.
I don't need to interact with it much. Most of my frustrations have evaporated over time without me moving to HL in a rage. I guess I got used to it.
Cheers TP - its the transfer service i will be using for 4 or 5 pensions. Once they are in i doubt i will look at it too much so will compare youinvest with LH. I don't need to interact with it much. Most of my frustrations have evaporated over time without me moving to HL in a rage. I guess I got used to it.
Have you any measure on how they are doing now compared to previous "unmanaged" state? Ive got a feeling i will be pretty angry at myself ignoring them... some i havent updated for nearly 20 years! The odds and sods have a total of about £12k in them in 2003 so will see how we get on.....
Well, they're doing artificially well right now because the funds are doing well. +10% roughly. That's partly the funds and partly lucky entry timing. I have no expertise in choosing funds and didn't choose the timing either, so I could just as easily be 10% down by now. 
But it's a long game. Watch the man, not the dog, as they say.
But it's a long game. Watch the man, not the dog, as they say.
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