Pensions - IFA or Private

[Lance]

Thanks for the replies...In general, what are your opinions of IFAs? Worth the money?

They're not all bad. Most horror stories are based on when they sold products that seemed suitable at the time (endowments being a classic example as they were good in times of high inflation, but with low inflation they turned out terribly). It's much more heavily regulated now, and the advice will cost you some money.

Whereas a SIPP has no (or very little) advice so the fees are for fund management only.
And some SIPP providers are getting screwed for mis-selling as well.

Make sure there is no trail commission and make sure they get the lowest fees. The fees will likely be greater than with a SIPP, but not much more.
Fees of 1% are far, far too high. You want to be aiming at 0.5% or lower.