Private pension for a 35 year old dunce.

[Richard-G]

Hello all, firstly ive done lots of searching and pondered posting this over the space of about 6 months, so apologies if this has been covered before...

I need some pension advice! Since 2017 ive had to submit self assesments and i keep noticing elements on them about pension contributions, along with people mentioning on here that if you contribute to a PP then its very tax efficient.

Well at 35 i have no pension provisions in place, but have about 2 years take home in a marcus account, which i feel is probably overkill/inefficient

I can save around 500-750 per month and start any pension with a 10k lump sum.

Has anyone got any advice on how i save into a PP and save on personal tax?

Where is best to look for a PP?

Do i need to see and pay for an advisor?

As background i dont have any debt bar a mortgage which is very manageable. The mortgage value is only around 50% of the value of the house.

Thanks all.

[Wacky Racer]

Without going into any finer details, at your age, if you can put £500 pm into a decent private pension, plus your 10k, have your house or a house fully paid for by then, plus your state pension you should be able to enjoy a pretty decent retirement.

As always, better to start sooner rather than later.

[mikeiow]

Wacky Racer said:

Without going into any finer details, at your age, if you can put £500 pm into a decent private pension, plus your 10k, have your house or a house fully paid for by then, plus your state pension you should be able to enjoy a pretty decent retirement.

As always, better to start sooner rather than later.

Sounds fair....although we have no idea about earnings: MSE advises trying to put half your age in % terms away for a reasonable retirement....see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount...

So aged 35, it would be nice to be stashing >17% of earnings....*including* any company addition. £500 (including company addition) implies a pre-tax wage around £3,000. If that sounds right, then you should be on track.

For the 10k, my *personal* view would be to filter it in over a few months (maybe as many as 10) to even out any bumps....but I’m not an advisor!

[Derek Chevalier]

Richard-G said:

Hello all, firstly ive done lots of searching and pondered posting this over the space of about 6 months, so apologies if this has been covered before...

I need some pension advice! Since 2017 ive had to submit self assesments and i keep noticing elements on them about pension contributions, along with people mentioning on here that if you contribute to a PP then its very tax efficient.

Well at 35 i have no pension provisions in place, but have about 2 years take home in a marcus account, which i feel is probably overkill/inefficient

I can save around 500-750 per month and start any pension with a 10k lump sum.

Has anyone got any advice on how i save into a PP and save on personal tax?

Where is best to look for a PP?

Do i need to see and pay for an advisor?

As background i dont have any debt bar a mortgage which is very manageable. The mortgage value is only around 50% of the value of the house.

Thanks all.

I wonder if an adviser could add sufficient value to cover their fees.
2 years take home does sound excessive when compared to the typical 3-6 months, but it depends whether this is earmarked for anything in the next 5 or so years.

Why not start here and see how you get on

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

[The Leaper]

The Pensions Advisory Service is not really set up to provide financial advice. They may give you limited guidance.

R.

[gazapc]

First of all run through a few pension calculators, it can be quite sobering how much you need to put away! Saying that, the effect of compound interest can be significant.

If you're a higher tax payer then getting an instant 40% uplift is a no brainer.

Im 28 and have £520 ish per month going into my work scheme, should do me OK considering other monies I'm also saving.

[Derek Chevalier]

The Leaper said:

The Pensions Advisory Service is not really set up to provide financial advice. They may give you limited guidance.

R.

It may be the best option depending on how big his stash of cash is,

[Richard-G]

Thanks for all the replies chaps, i have followed advice and had a day of reading!

I now understand the tax mechanisms better, i.e. i contribute 500 per month and the provider automatically boosts this to 625 (adding 25%)

I pay 40% income tax and realise i will fill in the correct section on my self assesment to recieve the further 15% relief in the form of either a rebate/tax reduction/code change.

I've been looking at nutmeg as a provider, i think that will suit my neurotic nature about pensions.

Finally i wanted to get the max boost on my SA for 19/20 so i want to go with 10/15k before april with about 550 per month.

If any of the above looks stupid or plain wrong please dont worry about offending my by advising or calling me a numpty!

[Derek Chevalier]

Richard-G said:

I've been looking at nutmeg as a provider, i think that will suit my neurotic nature about pensions.

There is a thread on Nutmeg and alternatives - might be worth a read

[AllyM]

I wouldn’t be rushing to put any of my money Nutmegs way.

[Mr Pointy]

Richard-G said:

I've been looking at Nutmeg as a provider, I think that will suit my neurotic nature about pensions.

I'd suggest you could do better - look at the Nutmeg thread as DC has suggested. If you want simple look at Vanguard (low cost) or better still read the Intelligent Money thread.

Richard-G said:

Finally I wanted to get the max boost on my SA for 19/20 so i want to go with 10/15k before April with about 550 per month

Don't forget you may be able to use last year's allowance as well if you really want to max out the contributions. Balance out ISA & pension contributions though.

[JulianPH]

Mr Pointy said:

I'd suggest you could do better - look at the Nutmeg thread as DC has suggested. If you want simple look at Vanguard (low cost) or better still read the Intelligent Money thread.

Thank you Mr Pointy!