Is my understanding of pensions correct?

[Fred Bloggs]

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?

If you want to understand how a HL SIPP works, the HL website is extremely clear and explains it all very well. However, to answer your question. If you buy "funds" in a HL SIPP (funds = unit trusts and OEICs) you pay nothing to HL. On purchasing the funds, the (usually ~5% charge upfornt levied by the fund manager) upfront charge is discounted by HL, the result is usually a zero or a close to zero upfront charge. HL make their money from the trail commission that the fund managers pay them annually. The trail commission is paid out of the fund mangers fees (typically 0.5 to 1.5% depending on the fund). You pay the fund mangers fees out of the fund whether you hold the fund directly or in a SIPP (or an ISA). Nothing extra leaves your HL SIPP account in terms of manager fees.

The situation changes for all other investments (shares, bonds, gilts ETFs etc....) HL charge a trading fee and an annual management fee capped at £200. I believe HL is best used as a funds SIPP, there are better providers for SIPPs contatning non fund assets IMO.

HL SIPP suits me very well, I manage about £200k of funds with HL, it works very well. HTH.

[jmo21]

Thats why I said "good proven rent-able area". Also you say investment can go up or down, that is correct. Many people brighter than you can't predict how its going to go in 12 months never mind decades, so its a gamble at best. You also say the property bubble bursts, people always need housing and if your properties are in a rent-able area (Near university for example) they will rarely be empty.

Just don't put all your eggs in one basket russell.

My experience when I used to live in Dublin has put me right off property investing (it wasn't an investment, but when I decided to move back to the UK it was at the worst possible time)

But then Ireland is an extreme case.

[pmeswani]

If you want to understand how a HL SIPP works, the HL website is extremely clear and explains it all very well. However, to answer your question. If you buy "funds" in a HL SIPP (funds = unit trusts and OEICs) you pay nothing to HL. On purchasing the funds, the (usually ~5% charge upfornt levied by the fund manager) upfront charge is discounted by HL, the result is usually a zero or a close to zero upfront charge. HL make their money from the trail commission that the fund managers pay them annually. The trail commission is paid out of the fund mangers fees (typically 0.5 to 1.5% depending on the fund). You pay the fund mangers fees out of the fund whether you hold the fund directly or in a SIPP (or an ISA). Nothing extra leaves your HL SIPP account in terms of manager fees.

The situation changes for all other investments (shares, bonds, gilts ETFs etc....) HL charge a trading fee and an annual management fee capped at £200. I believe HL is best used as a funds SIPP, there are better providers for SIPPs contatning non fund assets IMO.

HL SIPP suits me very well, I manage about £200k of funds with HL, it works very well. HTH.

I manage about £100k with H&L with the majority of my funds are held in an ISA. If I can get a steady flow of work this year and next, I hope to top up my Pension a bit more.

[Fred Bloggs]

I manage about £100k with H&L with the majority of my funds are held in an ISA. If I can get a steady flow of work this year and next, I hope to top up my Pension a bit more.

Excellent plan, beauty of ISA's in retirement is the tax free income. I had planned to top up my SIPP by about £50k this year but thanks to the coalition policies on education, that money now has to pay for my son's university course fees when he starts university in 2012. Just puts my eventual retirement back by another year.

[russell]

Just don't put all your eggs in one basket russell.

My experience when I used to live in Dublin has put me right off property investing (it wasn't an investment, but when I decided to move back to the UK it was at the worst possible time)

But then Ireland is an extreme case.

Yeah, that is bad luck and maybe you were not looking at it as an investment when you bought it?