Pension fund performance - do you monitor yours, how is it doing, do you actively change it?

Must admit to being guilty of neglecting my pension over the years, never really paid attention to it just paid into it blindly.

Only past couple of years I've started to look at it, current age 51, still find it all confusing and not sure what to do.

Matt
 
danlightbulb said:
How is it costing them money? The marginal cost of each client on the platform will be next to zero.
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One issue they've been having is people using them to acquire funds, but not to hold them.

So they buy funds for a few months, say an entire £20k ISA allowance, and incur fees of 0.15% on that, which would be comfortably less than £30 given it's taken less than a year.

Then said person transfers the entire lot to another provider, who charges a flat fee.

That transfer is a very manual process, so the cost of providing that service is extremely high in raw terms.

Funnily enough, iweb have started banning some customers who have made multiple transfers in.

I do think Vanguard have backed themselves into a bit of a corner - by their nature they attract people who want low fees, but those people will be inclined to migrate away from the platform long before they hit the upper fee cap, so they've been left with a big chunk of the lowest end of the market where they can easily make a loss per customer as soon as they need to provide any kind of support.
 
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Matt_Hirst said:
Must admit to being guilty of neglecting my pension over the years, never really paid attention to it just paid into it blindly.

Only past couple of years I've started to look at it, current age 51, still find it all confusing and not sure what to do.

Matt
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Try pensionwise website
Decent place to start - they can give you some "guidance" but not advice.

Otherwise if you feel you need it - see out some regulated professional advice from an IFA. Ask around friends/family for a recommendation or try unbiased website.
 
I was looking to transfer from Vanguard anyway because the fee is high ~£400.
Sounds like a transfer can take a while, so I'd need a bit more incentive.
I decided to hang on for Jan-April to try and snag a "come to us for £1k+" offer from ii or hl.

The annoying thing about Vanguard is I have 2 logins, one is an old one which broke and I've been trying to get them to close it off for years. Of course they emailed that account about fees, so it looks like it's going to start charging me for a dead account so I have to speak to them for the millionth time about it.
 
Matt_Hirst said:
Must admit to being guilty of neglecting my pension over the years, never really paid attention to it just paid into it blindly.

Only past couple of years I've started to look at it, current age 51, still find it all confusing and not sure what to do.

Matt
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Despite being what I consider financially savvy I only looked into it properly this year (38 at the time).
Kind of shocked how much I've missed out on.
Its not horrendous as my biggest pension was in a decent fund.
But all the smaller ones.. Dire.

I totally understand why providers put funds in 4-5/7 risk ratings. They don't want to be responsible for getting it wrong. But it means anyone not switched on misses out on ridiculous amounts of money.
 
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Matt_Hirst said:
Must admit to being guilty of neglecting my pension over the years, never really paid attention to it just paid into it blindly.

Only past couple of years I've started to look at it, current age 51, still find it all confusing and not sure what to do.

Matt
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Who is your current pension provider? Workplace pension I assume? Do you have any old pensions from previous work places?
 
413x said:
Despite being what I consider financially savvy I only looked into it properly this year (38 at the time).
Kind of shocked how much I've missed out on.
Its not horrendous as my biggest pension was in a decent fund.
But all the smaller ones.. Dire.

I totally understand why providers put funds in 4-5/7 risk ratings. They don't want to be responsible for getting it wrong. But it means anyone not switched on misses out on ridiculous amounts of money.
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In the same boat. Taken more ownership but left with the feeling should have thought about it sooner.

Bit peeved with that from 6 April 2027, unused pension savings may be included in your estate for IHT purposes unlike now where it is paid tax-free to beneficiaries at the discretion of Trustees.

Ultimately would have left some of it to the kids but seems pointless going forward. Such a balance between ISA, SIPP and government pension with an ever increasing age to get it.
 
From Vanguards website ref the new charges:

Do it yourself – self-managed​

If you invested £20,000 in a LifeStrategy Fund:
  • account fee £4 a month: £48 a year
  • average fund management cost 0.26%: £52 a year
  • estimated total cost of investing: £100 a year
If you invested £50,000 in a LifeStrategy Fund:
  • account fee 0.15%: £75 a year
  • average fund management cost 0.26%: £130 a year
  • estimated total cost of investing: £205 a year
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We do it for you – managed​

If you invested £20,000 in a Managed ISA:

  • account fee 0.15%: £30 a year
  • average fund management cost for a moderate portfolio 0.17%: £34 a year
  • management fees 0.20%: £40 a year
  • total estimated cost of investing: £104 a year
If you invested £40,000 in a Managed ISA:

  • account fee 0.15%: £60 a year
  • average fund management cost for a moderate portfolio 0.17%: £68 a year
  • management fees 0.20%: £80 a year
  • total estimated cost of investing: £208 a year
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throwaway4372 said:
I was looking to transfer from Vanguard anyway because the fee is high ~£400.
Sounds like a transfer can take a while, so I'd need a bit more incentive.
I decided to hang on for Jan-April to try and snag a "come to us for £1k+" offer from ii or hl.

The annoying thing about Vanguard is I have 2 logins, one is an old one which broke and I've been trying to get them to close it off for years. Of course they emailed that account about fees, so it looks like it's going to start charging me for a dead account so I have to speak to them for the millionth time about it.
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Fidelity have a decent offer at the moment, if you use ETFs their charges are capped at £90.
 
ddoubleep said:
Who is your current pension provider? Workplace pension I assume? Do you have any old pensions from previous work places?
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I have 2 one workplace for the past 2 years, they put in i think 4% i pay around 10% in, then a personal pension with Virgin this I've had for years never consistently paid into this due to lower paid jobs, kids etc.

The personal pension i may have to stop paying into as my second job is ending so won't have spare cash.
 
throwaway4372 said:
I was looking to transfer from Vanguard anyway because the fee is high ~£400.
Sounds like a transfer can take a while, so I'd need a bit more incentive.
I decided to hang on for Jan-April to try and snag a "come to us for £1k+" offer from ii or hl.

The annoying thing about Vanguard is I have 2 logins, one is an old one which broke and I've been trying to get them to close it off for years. Of course they emailed that account about fees, so it looks like it's going to start charging me for a dead account so I have to speak to them for the millionth time about it.
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How can it be £400 with the cap?

Vanguard is still the cheapest for my SIPP (I moved all my various workplace pensions into it a few years ago) so no plans to change it. I have my ISAs with Halifax and no plans to change that also, costs me £36 a year.
 
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MichaelAwkward said:
How can it be £400 with the cap?

Vanguard is still the cheapest for my SIPP (I moved all my various workplace pensions into it a few years ago) so no plans to change it. I have my ISAs with Halifax and no plans to change that also, costs me £36 a year.
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iweb which is also part of the same group as Halifax don't charge a fee.
 
We were talking about pensions today at work, what’s funny as I am the youngest in my team at 41. I haven’t really paid attention into mine I have blindly paid into my pensions at all the different firms I have been with over the years. I am thinking about bringing my older pensions that don’t have a huge amount in them into my current one.
 
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