Is my understanding of pensions correct?

[Moscow Mule]

So what you're saying is you don't know exactly how much they're taking? A question, what if you don't use your SIPP for funds but use it to buy things you can only buy in SIPPs, like shares or something... how do they make money then? A simple commission on the sale?

I've got my FI oilies stocks (AIM) in my HL SIPP. Costs about £20 a trade, which I'm pretty sure is a fair bit more than cost.

[Fred Bloggs]

So what you're saying is you don't know exactly how much they're taking? A question, what if you don't use your SIPP for funds but use it to buy things you can only buy in SIPPs, like shares or something... how do they make money then? A simple commission on the sale?

I don't care that you're 'only' trying to help the OP, I'm telling them a professional disagrees with you. As long as they investigate rather than take either of as as legitimate sources that's fine with me.

I've told you, I couldn't give a stuff who you believe. HL's charges are transparent when invested in unit trusts OEICs, they are zero. The only charges are made by the fund managers and that is easy to find out, naturally it varies by fund. That really isn't so difficult top undersrtand.

[ctdctd]

Pretty much what Fred said.

My SIPP is with HL and it's just like a stocks & shares ISA with a different name.

Annual fee for unit trusts etc is zero and purchase is discounted. They make their money out of the annual commission rebated to them by the trust managers.
They charge a management fee if you hold shares which is 0.5% PA capped at something.

Great website and lots of emailed updates and research.

They do tend to push some new funds quite heavily which as a non advice broker is a bit iffy but hey, I can ignore that and they have to make a living!

To the OP, I pay in more than my salary as a director of My Co as the internet seems to suggest that is allowed.......

[davetza]

Thanks for all the advice. think I need to do a bit more research

[Fred Bloggs]

Thanks for all the advice. think I need to do a bit more research

I agree, hoever, it has never been easer to make these decisions. All the information is out there for you. Good luck.

[pmeswani]

Our independent financial advisor strongly recommended against SIPPs unless you are going to be playing a very active role in managing your pension, since they have the highest fees and are much harder to downgrade to a simpler, cheaper option; whereas you can upgrade a simpler option (like stakeholder) to a SIPP easily once you have a big chunk of money invested to play with.

I recently sorted myself out a standard Stakeholder pension and am funding it purely from MyCo. I was also told not to put more than 100% salary in. One source said you're not allowed, another said you have to clear it first but overall it sounds a bit dodgy if you don't like to push things. This becomes a problem if you pay a very low salary and want to put a lot away, but by the time I'm saving £15-20k for my and my wife's ISA each year, an extra £5-7k in the pension doesn't seem too little.

Whilst I respect your opinion, I would be interested in seeing the research from your IFA on how Stakeholder Pensions are cheaper and better than SIPPS.

When I had a Stakeholder Pension, the fund options were limited, and only got a report once a year on funds that were not available to market (i.e. unable to perform an independant research on the funds and keep track of how well they were doing so that I could change the investments quickly).

I see H&L as value for money and are, overall, cheaper than Stakeholder Pensions for what they are offering.

I prefer to manage my own finances rather than someone else taking a slice out of my pension as a management fee.

[Notascooby]

When I spoke to an IFA that was recommended by my accountant I couldn't believe the charges involved.
Firstly there was a large up front commision of the amount I was going to invest, which considering the market would more the wipe out the best possible advice. This was being sold as far better than the rolling commisin option, which I couldn't believe anyone would agree to!!!!

Then if for some reason the world changed and the investment options turned out to be tulip, then for another fee he'd review these - wtf.

H&L SIPP - take your punt, which I think will be just as good, if not better than the monkeys that call themselves IFAs.

Most are taking the p1ss and as mentioned are more in it for their commision than what's best for the customer.

In the last 6 months the H&L funds are up over 10% and these are a safe bet for those who aren't willing to look further. As you get a bit of time you can look at other options. I'll admit to knowing very little about the seemingly unlimited choices so asked a friend who is a fund manager himself for some top picks then just spread my investment between them.

[AussieDigger]

Pretty much what Fred said.

My SIPP is with HL and it's just like a stocks & shares ISA with a different name.

Annual fee for unit trusts etc is zero and purchase is discounted. They make their money out of the annual commission rebated to them by the trust managers.
They charge a management fee if you hold shares which is 0.5% PA capped at something.

Great website and lots of emailed updates and research.

They do tend to push some new funds quite heavily which as a non advice broker is a bit iffy but hey, I can ignore that and they have to make a living!

To the OP, I pay in more than my salary as a director of My Co as the internet seems to suggest that is allowed.......

So when you invest into a SIPP with HL and buy into several leading funds, aside from the £200 per account per year, what are you paying on average per fund for each investment?

[pmeswani]

So when you invest into a SIPP with HL and buy into several leading funds, aside from the £200 per account per year, what are you paying on average per fund for each investment?

Where did you get the £200 per account per year from? For as long as I have been a customer of H&L, I have never paid £200 a year for their services. I would be interested in knowing where you got that figure from.

On my investments, I don't pay more than 0.5% for any investments choices.

[AussieDigger]

It is simply wrong to generalise and say that SIPPS have higher charges than stakeholders. Some may do, many do not. Look at those by HL, Alliance, SIPP Deal and many others. A SIPP is certainly the lowest cost, most flexible pension you can buy, provided you do your home work. You don't need IFA's, do your own research and be your own IFA. There is nothing difficult about setting up your own SIPP and having your Ltd Co pay into it. To set one up with HL probably takes about 15 minutes. (My SIPP is with HL and I'm very happy with it).

What sort of costs do you pay for every £100 put into your SIPP ? Fund costs, HL costs etc ?