Personal Pensions & SIPPs

Open to nearly everyone, very useful for self employed and if your company Pensions offer a Company Scheme.

You can pay in as much as you can comfortably afford but because of Tax Relief there is a maximum, you can pay up to £3,600 each year (inclusive of Tax Relief) into your plan even if you don't have any earnings (children are included) or pay up to 100% of your UK taxable earnings.

You can stop, start or increase your contributions when ever you want. You can also switch funds within your Pension so for example as you get nearer to retirement you should switch into less risky funds.

With the introduction of Stakeholder Schemes in 2001 there are now plenty of low cost schemes available. With so many schemes being available it is important to receive independent advice.

Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP)

A SIPP is a Tax efficient wrapper with a wide range of investments can be held. SIPPs have the same Tax benefits and regulations as conventional personal Pensions plans but you or your adviser have control over the investment choice. The range of permitted investments is extensive and included more conventional investments such as Deposits, Unit Trusts, Stocks and Shares, and also more unusual assets such as Commercial Property.

A SIPP can be quite complex and is not suitable for everyone, often SIPPs are only beneficial to people with large funds or investments who have a good financial knowledge to make their own decisions. There are often additional charges for arranging and dealing within a SIPP and these charges would erode smaller funds quickly.