Pension

[mickyilly]

I'm nearly 25 and I said i'd start a pension when i got to this age. Any info, suggestions on what to do, where to start - who to ask etc...bit clueless really where to begin.

Mic

[bednobs]

what job are you in? do you plan to stay in that job?
In my non professional opinion, occupational pension schemes provided by your employer are often the best value because they also contribute, rather than just you. However, if you plan to move around a lot in your job, or take time out to have kids, you could find yourself with loads of different pots of pension when you retire. An altternative would be a stake holder or personal pension which you can take to whateverjob you are in or can add to when you are not working. - just contact an independent pension advisor (yellow pages) or your work may provide advice.
Of course, there has been a lot of negative press about pensions recently and you might prefer to do something elses completely like get a buy to let place and sell it when you retire to release money

[WendyS]

Go to
moneysavingsexpert.com
and investigate the Forum section. They have a section on Pension and Annuities which might be helpful.
If you employer has a pension scheme, join it. If not buy some Money magazines from W.H. Smith and try to educate yourself a little first so you know what questions to ask a Financial Advisor if you get one. You do get tax relief on your pension contributions so it is worth doing mand decide whether you want to build a pension for yourself in a flexible way, i.e. contributing 100% into a pension fund or splitting your contributions between a pension and Stocks & Shares ISAs which you hold until retirement. Just remember that although retirement may seem a long way off, when you get there you will be glad that you started to make as much provision as you could early in life so that the funds have had a chance to accumulate and build up.

[legend1751]

if your company has a pension scheme most financial advisors can only advise you to take that option, even if you dont want to they can only recommend that,

[les saisies]

If you are not already buying your own residential property then use what you can afford to invest in a pension to pay a mortgage.

There is no better investment in the long term than property and with zero tax on gains at the moment provided that it is your main home.

If you have your own home make sure you use all your ISA allowances before you consider any pension type investment, other than an employer scheme as mentioned in an earlier answer, because once invested it is impossible to get cash out before retirement date and the returns at the moment are not too good.