Pension pot

[Cass63]

After working for myself for over 25 years and paying into a private pension I now work for someone and have started a nest pension.
My private pension isn’t worth a massive amount but it’s ok and with about 8 years till I retire I will keep paying into it.
My question is, is it worth putting a lump sum into my private pension (£20k ) or should and can I put it into my new nest pension, I’m going to put additional money into the nest pension monthly as well.

[bitchstewie]

That probably depends on who your private pension is with and the fees and fund choices available compared to Nest.

I just saw on the Nest website they take 1.8% from every contribution but I'm struggling to believe that

[Cass63]

It’s with Scottish widows through an adviser, not sure on fees and charges, I’ve only really started checking on my pension recently as retirement is looming ever closer and now I’m paying into nest.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Do you have an ISA?

If the lump sum you’re talking about is 20k, there’s a good argument for putting it into a global equity index tracker fund, within an ISA. This gives more flexibility: you can start drawing down from the ISA whenever you want, without waiting for the minimum retirement age. Having both pension and ISA gives the best of both worlds.

[Cass63]

I need to put the money into my pension to stop me paying more in tax for the financial year, I got kicked out of my workshop but got a lump sum for going and with my earnings up till that time added to it it takes me over the tax threshold.

[bitchstewie]

I would definitely check the total charges.

You can open and run a SIPP for buttons and it may be cheaper than either of those two options.

That said some private pensions are incredibly cheap.

Check the fees

[Cass63]

After looking into it 1.8% of the nest pension is right plus a 0.3 % charge for looking after your account.
It was going to cost me 2% to put it into my pension (£400)😱 but after checking my accounts and the money I’ve already paid into my private pension I’m just under the 40% threshold.
That gives me a bit of time to look at what else to do with it.

[AndyAudi]

bhstewie said:

That probably depends on who your private pension is with and the fees and fund choices available compared to Nest.

I just saw on the Nest website they take 1.8% from every contribution but I'm struggling to believe that

Remember though with Nest the 1.8% is a one time hit, it’s a pretty low (0.3%) annual charge thereafter, which on this example of £1k contribution on £10k pot (probably common numbers since NEST started) is pretty cheap - albeit limited fund choices.



NEST is a simple scheme for simple folks (employees & employers alike) for relatively small amounts they’d probably end up paying a chunk more elsewhere.
I think most NEST pots being drawn as pensions over next 5-10years will be <£25k total pot value.