SIPP Pension Initial Costs - IFA

[adubya]

Vanguard has its pros and cons. For me it would probably be more expensive than iWeb but I like the fact that you can hold multiple products (SIPP, ISA) with them and still pay the one annual charge (capped). As both my SIPP and ISAs are with iWeb then I'm still better off remaining where I am but might not apply to everyone.

[eddie1507]

Cheers guys you have saved me £750 .. Just setup with HL very straight forward and easy to use... Not sure what the charge from the IFA was

[rootsnall]

Cheers guys you have saved me £750 .. Just setup with HL very straight forward and easy to use... Not sure what the charge from the IFA was

HL are expensive once you get a decent sized pot in your SIPP, for the same service as the cheaper options. But it's easy to switch if and when you get to that stage.

[SimonMac]

Hi Guys,

I have spoken to 2 IFA's as I need to set up a pension, i have decided to go for a SIPP Pension.

The first IFA wanted £3k to set up the second IFA a more reasonable £750, it still seems a little steep.

The service has been quoted is to set up a SIPP only not being managed etc as this would be pointless in the first couple of years until the balance grew.

Wondering how much fellow contractors paid when setting up their SIPP or did they do it on their own?

Cheers

I paid zero to set up the SIPP with HL, but I needed a IFA as I wanted to transfer my civil service pension into it. Went with HLs recommendation was about £600 a few years ago, seemed a waste as ignored their advice and transferred it anyway which was my intention all along

[wattaj]

Cheers guys you have saved me £750 .. Just setup with HL very straight forward and easy to use... Not sure what the charge from the IFA was

HL will get to be the more expensive option when you have a large pot. Look at a fixed monthly fee provider like Interactive Investor... cheaper in the long run.

[adubya]

Yes, it's not just the opening fee (or lack of) you need to factor in when choosing a provider.

[Spoiler]

I've transferred two pension pots into SIPPs recently.

1. Small pot went to YouInvest (AJ Bell), as their annual fee was competitive (0.25% capped), and also a cheap regular investment fee (£1.50) for popular ETFs, etc.

2. The bigger pot went to II, as they were flat-fee, not %.

I did rule HL out early on due to their fee.
The setup/transfer process was much smoother with YouInvest.

Then, I watched/read stuff, including Lars Kroijer investing demystified videos; RESET book by David Sawyer; many FIRE blogs, Monevator...

Not financial advice, but the small pot invested in two Vanguard funds:
FTSE Dev World Ex-UK Equity Acc (75%)
FTSE All Share UK Index Acc (25%)
(100% in equity as it's still in the accumulation phase, and I have a loose attitude to risk).

[rootsnall]

Not financial advice, but the small pot invested in two Vanguard funds:
FTSE Dev World Ex-UK Equity Acc (75%)
FTSE All Share UK Index Acc (25%)
(100% in equity as it's still in the accumulation phase, and I have a loose attitude to risk).

IWeb was the cheapest when I last investigated for a big pot at £180 a year fixed and £5 trades, saves a lot over HL.

I'm currently looking at what to be invested in the retirement phase and current thinking is 100% equity in FTSE 100/All trackers. 4.6% dividend ( costs 0.05-0.07% ), you need to wrap your head around you are buying the dividend and don't get too fixated on the share prices. Anybody got any better ideas !?!

[Spoiler]

IWeb was the cheapest when I last investigated for a big pot at £180 a year fixed and £5 trades, saves a lot over HL.

Can't remember why I didn't consider IWeb, but for me, it would be the same as II, based on making 12 trades a year...

II: £19.99 month service fee, with 1 free trade per month = £240
IWeb: £180 fee, plus 12 x £5 trades = £240

Perhaps it was II's SIPP transfer cashback promotion

[Maslins]

Just to chuck in my own experience:
- set things up with Hargreaves Lansdown, they made things very easy.
- switched to Interactive Investor about a year ago (based largely on recommendations on here re price)...this was painful!
We got there in the end, but HL is a much more slick offering. II needed more prodding, and were slow to do things/answer queries.

I don't necessarily regret the decision, and now it's set up with automated transfers in/investments the website being a bit poor doesn't really matter. However, I wouldn't think someone was daft for sticking with HL despite higher charges for the better website/customer service.