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

throwaway4372 said:
Pension calculator tells you what to expect, statistically:

Life expectancy calculator - Office for National Statistics

Enter your age and sex in our calculator to find out your life expectancy, and the likelihood of you living to be 100 years old.
www.ons.gov.uk

It also tells you what ages you have a 25% chance of living until, and 10% chance of living until. So it's a balancing act to have enough for what you expect, and a bit of contingency in case you live longer. You can estimate where you are vs the average based on knowing your own risk factors.

It's still guesswork though really...
Click to expand...

That's just based on the countries average, I think genetics and condition of your life style can help predicting life expectancy more than a countries average.

I think I'll be looking at an annuity till I'm 85 and looking at drawing down all my pension pots at 90.
If I live longer than 90, then I should have enough saved in ISAs and saving accounts to see me to the line, if not then it be an nice bonus to members of the family.
 
Last edited:
throwaway4372 said:
Pension calculator tells you what to expect, statistically:

Life expectancy calculator - Office for National Statistics

Enter your age and sex in our calculator to find out your life expectancy, and the likelihood of you living to be 100 years old.
www.ons.gov.uk

It also tells you what ages you have a 25% chance of living until, and 10% chance of living until. So it's a balancing act to have enough for what you expect, and a bit of contingency in case you live longer. You can estimate where you are vs the average based on knowing your own risk factors.

It's still guesswork though really...
Click to expand...

So it says if I'm male I'll live to 84 and if I'm female I'll live to 87. I have a 75% chance of making 75 so I guess I'll transition at that age to get the extra female years
 
Anyone use invest engine here?
I'm interested in moving from vanguard to it while the transfer option is there.
 
slinxy said:
To what age have people figured that they will live to?
I know there's a bit of "no point saving now as I might drop dead before retirement" talk..

But there's no point of having a massive pension pot, if you don't think you wil cash it in on time before you drop without facing tax penalties.
Not that I'm anywhere near retirement yet, but I do plan to coast to the line so I'm putting in as much as I can now to get the reduction in taxes and kinda knowing that I will be putting less in the future. So I can withdraw it at a lower tax rate during retirement, but if I don't have the time to withdraw it all or if I buy an annuity till I'm a 100 but think I'll drop in my late 80s, then it's a waste of money.

Has anyone thought about the spending/withdrawing side of their pension?
Click to expand...

Impossible to predict.

Its going to be a balance. Nhs in decline is a significant "out of our control" negative.
But also who knows if a cure for cancer might pop out.

For those of us without kids it's a little more important to plan.
1. More likely you'll need to fund your own care
2. No one to leave money to.

For 1. That can be planned around (ish)
For 2. Anything left will go to charity.

But I absolutely don't want to die with loads in bank.
That's why I'm cutting back saving now. Because at 39..the chance of dying YoY starts to ramp up.

As with everything like this. Don't save everything, it spend like you'll die tomorrow. A balance Is the best way.

Mictoplastics are obviously a hot topic right now. Who knows how deadly they are/will be as the concentrations increase
 
Last edited:
I’m still in the default fund with my pension provider (Aviva), but the returns look around the same as a global all cap fund and my charges are 0.15%.

IMG-1492.jpg


Any thoughts on whether I should move to a different fund?
 
Last edited:
What charges are considered reasonable these days? My main private pension is with Standard Life where the charges are 0.58%. I’m thinking about opening a SIPP with AJ Bell where the charges are 0.25% - quite a difference but I’m still checking there aren’t any hidden charges.

Reason I ask is because I though 0.58% wasn’t too bad, 0.25% was much better but then I see above that Aviva only charges 0.15%
 
Bluecube said:
What charges are considered reasonable these days? My main private pension is with Standard Life where the charges are 0.58%. I’m thinking about opening a SIPP with AJ Bell where the charges are 0.25% - quite a difference but I’m still checking there aren’t any hidden charges.

Reason I ask is because I though 0.58% wasn’t too bad, 0.25% was much better but then I see above that Aviva only charges 0.15%
Click to expand...
I'd call anything beyond this a ripoff:
fund: 0.2%
platform: £200/yr (percentage fee structure can be a huge amount if you have a decent pot, do the math into pounds per year)
financialinterest.com

The Best SIPPs in 2025: Fees & Features Compared

Choosing the right SIPP depends on your specific needs and requirements. We'll help you narrow down your options and pick the best one for you.
financialinterest.com financialinterest.com

SaBBz said:
I’m still in the default fund with my pension provider (Aviva), but the returns look around the same as a global all cap fund and my charges are 0.15%.
Any thoughts on whether I should move to a different fund?
Click to expand...
Might not be worth moving (moving is a pain, you need to have a clear reason for doing it), and double check that 0.15% isn't just the fund charge and there's not another platform charge on top.
 
Last edited:
@throwaway4372 Thanks for the pointers. Certainly looks like the Standard Life charges are a bit on the high side so I'm looking to move away from them. I can replicate my fund holdings with Invest Engine which seems to have a decent selection of funds and low charges so I'll be transferring in about a weeks time
 
Bluecube said:
What charges are considered reasonable these days? My main private pension is with Standard Life where the charges are 0.58%. I’m thinking about opening a SIPP with AJ Bell where the charges are 0.25% - quite a difference but I’m still checking there aren’t any hidden charges.

Reason I ask is because I though 0.58% wasn’t too bad, 0.25% was much better but then I see above that Aviva only charges 0.15%
Click to expand...

Double check if the 0.58% includes the fund charges as well...

Remember the 0.25% with AJ BEll is just the basic charge before funds/eft are added in.
 
If you want to stay with ETFs VHVG is just 0.12%. Fees on AJbell for shares/ETFs are capped at £10 a month max. You can always add a seperate tracker for emerging markets if you want rather than paying 0.22% on something like VWRP with your entire pot.
 
200sols said:
If you want to stay with ETFs VHVG is just 0.12%. Fees on AJbell for shares/ETFs are capped at £10 a month max. You can always add a seperate tracker for emerging markets if you want rather than paying 0.22% on something like VWRP with your entire pot.
Click to expand...
Fees are capped for holding the shares/ ETFs which is fine if you’re not adding to your holdings however as I’d be paying in monthly and making less than ten purchases, there’s another £30 per month on top of that for me.
 
Bluecube said:
Fees are capped for holding the shares/ ETFs which is fine if you’re not adding to your holdings however as I’d be paying in monthly and making less than ten purchases, there’s another £30 per month on top of that for me.
Click to expand...
Why £30? Regular investing is £1.50 on Ajbell so surely just another £1.50 a month?
 
Bluecube said:
£1.50 for funds. £5 for shares/ ETFs with £3.50 per trade if you do 10 or more trades per month. I’m about to see what funds are available as I was looking at ETFs for some reason
Click to expand...
Not with their regular investing service, its £1.50.

Regular investment service

Invest monthly from just £25 with AJ Bell 's Regular Investment Service. Many investment funds are free to buy. Apply online today.
www.ajbell.co.uk www.ajbell.co.uk

throwaway4372 said:
it's free on ii btw
Click to expand...
Its free on ii and with ii you can use things like OEICs and not get bent over on platform charges, but for ETFs things like ajbell are pretty cheap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom