Shopping around for a Personal Pension Scheme

As with most finance products, personal pension schemes are available from a large number of providers in the UK, the key players amongst others include:

• Aviva
• AXA
• Friends Provident
• Legal & General
• Prudential
• Scottish Widows
• Standard Life

Setting up a pension is a long term financial commitment which can have a significant impact on your retirement, positively if you get your pension right, or negatively if you don't. Pensions are one of the most complex financial products available in the UK so wherever possible take the advice of an Independent Financial Adviser who is also preferably a pension specialist.

Before committing to a personal pension, The Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB) an independent body, established by the Financial Services Authority suggests you try to answer as many as the following questions as you can:

• How much can I afford to pay regularly? Some pensions can start as low as £20 per month.
• When do I hope to retire? Do you want to carry on working after state retirement age?
• What savings, investments or other assets do I have?
• Will my partner have a pension?
• What am I likely to get from State Pensions?
• What do I know about investing my contributions and how do I feel about investment risk?

Always ask for a Key Features document from pension providers or from your financial adviser, these documents will provide important information on:

• Any minimum contribution amounts you have to commit to
• Whether contribution amounts can be varied or stopped
• Fund choices offered, i.e. UK and overseas equities, fixed interest, cash and commercial property
• The scheme charges, i.e. pension contribution insurance, annual management charges, portfolio charges, switching fees between funds or transfer charges
• Any exit penalties such as Market Value Reductions (MVRs), if you want to switch to another pension
• Any other charges that may affect your investment returns, high charges do not necessarily mean better performance
• What happens if you can't keep up with your contributions as a result of illness or redundancy
• What any dependents may get if you die
• Whether loyalty bonuses are available
• What age you can start taking your pension, and if this can be altered.

You can take advantage of independent online comparison sites which compare different products and packages from the leading pension providers. It's important to take your time to compare as many providers as possible if you're doing it yourself, to make sure you understand what's available.

We've included a link below to a respected independent financial adviser who will respond to your online enquiry and get in contact with you to offer pension advice: Pension Advice

Download the UK Pension PDF Guide here - see our other free PDF guides here

Guide Contents

What is a Pension?
Why do you need a pension?
State and other types of Pension Schemes
Company or occupational pensions offered by Employers
Personal or private pension schemes
Shopping around for a personal pension scheme
Pension FAQs
Where can I go to get more help?

main menu << previous page  next page >>