The Ultimate Guide to PLATFORMS, PENSIONS & ISAs

[@EdmundBaileyUK]

WOW! Nice one Pete, very thorough and lots of great content in there... this should have so many more views, it doesn't seem right when Baby Shark gets 7.2 billion 🤣

[@MeaningfulMoney]

LOL! My intro music isn’t as catchy though, right?!

[@FrancesAlicia]

Very informative video. I like your style pete! Love that you mentioned FIRE. That would be a dream 💪🏽 but for now I’ll focus on pension and isa

[@MeaningfulMoney]

That’s the way to get there, Frances!

[@nikki_jp4216]

Love Meaningful Money. Not sure how I came across it, but I recall listening to many of the webinars as I was gardening in lockdown (not sure which one!!) Then started taking notes... signed up to the retirement academy and said goodbye to our financial advisor. I have got so much more from these and the academy and have bought his book for two of my friends. I love listening to Pete as he is so straightforward and inspires confidence! Well done Pete 🙂

[@MeaningfulMoney]

You are very kind, Nikki. Thank you so much for your support!

[@keithhalliday4700]

Another great episode Pete. Really appreciate the time you put in to create these fantastic podcasts.

[@MeaningfulMoney]

Cheers Keith - glad you’re enjoying them!

[@guyr7351]

Great VIdeo Pete, had missed this one and good to see that the one thing I don’t have at present which is being addressed is a S&S ISA. I am in a very good position at present with full state pension due in 4 yes and a DB in 3. These will give me a guaranteed income if took max DB of my take home pay now. Plus I have two DC pots, one is crystallised the other I am still investing in. I am currently still working as several years left on mortgage and bringing this down by my wife’s contribution being an overpayment reducing the term and lump sum payments by me to reduce the capital sum and so reduce the monthly amount so in retirement this will be a very small portion of our joint income. Love your channel and the information (not advise 😀) you give.

[@CyberTronics]

Nice your from Bradford! Been subscribed for ages only found out today.

[@MeaningfulMoney]

Yes! Born in BRI, raised in Shipley then Allerton. Went to Allerton First, Daisy Hill and Rhodesway schools. Thanks for watching!!

[@guyr7351]

As a Yorkshireman myself our inherent desire to keep our money as best we can, gives you an advantage as a FP 👍😀

[@dominikajuliette7311]

Hi Pete, this is my first episode that I listened to and I am so glad I've come across your podcast and channel. I'm excited to go back and to listen to the previous episodes. One thing stood out to me during this episode though and I was hoping to clarify it. At 22:21 you mention if you're 25 (that's me) and you've banked that £750 for that year you've worked, you can't access is until you reach your pension age. I'm a little worried, I don't know any 25 year olds who are on £50,000 a year. It just threw me off a bit. Have you made any specific episodes for people who are fresh out of university and only just starting out with average salaries between 20-30k? Other than that, this episode has really motivated me to get my finances in check. Many thanks!

[@guyr7351]

Hi Dominka, Your right there are not that many 25 yr olds with that sort of salary but there will be some. I think his point was to show some of the new way of working out part of the DB scheme benefits. His simple answer re what to do as a worker in their 20’s is think about what you can afford to safe and also the other requirements for your money in the forthcoming years. Specifically a house purchase you need to save for that as well as a pension. Remembering that the pension money is tied up until you are within ten years of state pension age if it’s in any sort of defined contribution scheme. Always always pay in what is required to maximise the employer contribution as that is free money for you and if it’s in your pot growing and compounding and being added to for 40 years will be a tidy sum and a lot more than people realise. There is also the very real threat in my opinion that the Government will change the level of state pension, maybe even means testing it so if you have a high personal scheme you get less state pension. So golden rule look after yourself re pension planning so that any state benefit is a bonus and not the main part of your pension which is sadly where far too many people are at today.

[@ETFAnalyzer]

Great video, thanks for the info!

[@outdoorsman1140]

Thanks Pete. It’s always good to watch your videos. Maybe I’m missing or overlooking something when I see a potential value in a cash ISA. Assuming that the interest difference between a cash ISA and an ordinary savings account is negligible (as it currently is), when retiring, would it not be beneficial to hold two years’ worth of living expenses in a cash ISA if there is a possibility of an inheritance in the future or a pension with a built-in lump sum will mature a few years after the initial retirement date, if the full £20,000 per year hasn’t been invested every year into a stocks and shares ISA (i.e. a cash buffer has been built up instead of investing everything). If there is an inheritance or pension pay-out in the future, the money sat in the cash ISA could be transferred into a stocks and shares ISA and cash from the inheritance/pension lump sum pay-out could replace the two years’ cash buffer in an ordinary savings account. Have I overlooked or missed something?

[@MeaningfulMoney]

No, you haven’t overlooked everything. There are always a million variables and as many unique situations as there are people, so the podcast is ALWAYS a generalisation! My main point is that there’s little benefit in having a tax benefit when the first £1000 of interest in a year is tax-free anyway, so I’d always leave my allowance free for S&S ISAs ideally...

[@akaic4546]

Hi Pete, another great video - I know these videos can take a lot of time and effort to create, so just to let you know that the quality, delivery and content are superb - keep up the great work! Question - I sold my house last year, so have a decent savings pot! I lost my job earlier this year and have been investing to cover my bills and save some. I recently consolidated all my pensions in to a SIPP with Vanguard - do you know if I'm allowed to add to that SIPP , as a "non-working" contributor? If so, what is the criteria?

[@MeaningfulMoney]

You can add to a SIPP, no problem, but the amount you can contribute is 100% of your earnings for the year or £40,000 whichever is lower. It’s done on a tax-year basis, and those figures are gross, so you would actually pay in 20% less than whatever your figure is with the rest made up with tax relief. If you have no earnings at all for the year, the most you can pay in is £3,600 gross or £2880 net

[@akaic4546]

@@MeaningfulMoney - Thank you sir. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[@guyr7351]

@@MeaningfulMoney HI Pete, and this reduction of what you can save into your pension if not actually working ( and also if your drawing a pension from a DB scheme I think ) is why it pays to work a few extra years or if you can see a situation say inheritance where you potentially could be receiving a sum of money that can be put into your pension pot and get the 25% credit from the Government added to it

[@Dazzy1107]

Happy 400th birthday Uncle Pete.....

[@MeaningfulMoney]

Thank you, my dear nephew!

[@ashlingdodd5871]

Hi could you please please do a basic basic pension video.. to understand when the tax is taken from your wages how is it applied to your pension account. Then the result on the other end

[@guyr7351]

Hi Ashling, I think Pete has done this as a separate video worth searching for but basically as it stand now this is the situation Money paid into the pension scheme gets tax relief at your tax level ( let’s say your a 20% taxpayer) so if you put 80p in the 20p is added by the government so it becomes a £1 If you put extra money into a pension scheme that you have paid tax on eg from your received salary, then for every £1 you put in, it becomes £1.25 when the tax relief is applied. This is a massive boost if you think about it, an immediate 25% boost then followed by compound interest/ growth in your fund. On retiring / accessing your pension pot ( after 57 years of age currently) 25% can be taken tax free, this can be a large amount depending how long your funds been growing, the remainder of the pension pot you will pay tax on when you access it at your tax rate. The current maximum state pension is about £3K below what your personal tax allowance is, so when you do retire need to make sure if there is any gap Between your state pension and the personal tax allowance this is claimed in any other payments you receive from a personal pension.

[@cmlamont1]

Great stuff as always Pete, your book and online content has started my journey to improve my finances. Regarding the LISA if I open one in my name (single income household) and my wife opens one in hers can we combine those when it comes to buying a house?

[@joebarton3700]

You can, provided they have been open for 12 months by the time you come to buy the property and you are both first time buyers! Anyone under age 40 and over 18 can open one. Naturally as it is an individual savings account, any money then in your wife's name is no longer yours, and the £4k pa limit applies. This is not advice and should not be taken as such! Just a recollection of what I believe the rules are.

[@cmlamont1]

@@joebarton3700 cheers Joe

[@yanetdevis2876]

Great video Pete! Quick question at the moment I have a pension scheme at work. I also have a stock and share ISA. Would you recommend to also start a SIPP?

[@MeaningfulMoney]

Not sure it’s necessary to do so unless you have investment opportunities you want to explore in a pension that are not available in the workplace scheme. Keep it simple.

[@guyr7351]

Often you can add extra into a work scheme beyond basic level forcing extra matched payments from the company. You can of course have a SIPP which allows you a bit more freedom of how the money is invested as Pete explained depending on your age ie age 30 it can be into more aggressive markets where gains could be higher. The other benefit of a SIPP is that you can select based on performance of those companies and it does split the minimal risk of your pension investment

[@RooRichy]

Hi Pete, I have a gap in my national insurance payments, it's about £750 I have the option to top up to fill the gap. I am in a workplace pension and I am pound cost averaging every month in index funds and I'm 32 years old looking to retire between 60-65. Is it worth topping up to get the full amount?

[@PeteMatthew]

Hi Rich. At 32 years old, you'll possibly have enough years of work before state pension age to make the gap up. So it's up to you - if you think you'll wan to stop working before you've accumulated enough years, then you might want to fill that gap now. Sorry not to be more specific - I can't give advice here...

[@guyr7351]

Hi RIch, As Pete says you will probably if keep working reach the number of years of NI contributions required to get the full state pension, don’t forget though that is only payable at full pension age currently 67 (but already planned on being raised after 2030 I think). That £750 if paid into a personal pension fund would become £937 with tax relief, IF that £937 grows at 5% pa without any extra money being added to it for 38 years (taking you to probable state pension age for you) it becomes £6282, that is the effect of compound interest. As Peter states as he is not a qualified financial advisor ( BUT a very knowledgable financial planner) he is not legally allowed to give advise. Hopefully the illustration above gives an insight where the right place for £750 is 😀👍

[@kaikai2469]

Would you recommend somebody to have their ISA and pension on different platforms to spread out the risk or as long as you diverse your portfolio, it does not matter?

[@MeaningfulMoney]

I’d say that’s up to the individual and their ability to sleep at night. No harm in doing so - just a bit more hassle using two platforms, but hardly a big problem! Great question - thanks!

[@johndupont8596]

Hi Pete, would love to know which ISA platform you use? Vanguard seems to be the best overall?

[@joebarton3700]

Fidelity are good, as are HL, Aegon, AJ Bell potentially etc. Depends what you need and your circumstances to be honest!

[@MeaningfulMoney]

Can't tell you that really, John. As a regulated financial adviser, any suggestion that I'm recommending anything could be construed as advice and I'd be censured by the regulator. The *best* platform for you depends on your circumstances. It'll come down to price, functionality, service and investment options. Do your homework and check out the Boring Money website for more info: www.boringmoney.co.uk/learn/investing-guides/product-guides/online-investment-platforms/

[@ErinDHM]

My workplace pension doesn't allow me to choose the fund to invest in, and it's nowhere near aggressive enough. Employer match is great, but even at max it's not going grow enough to have a decent retirement income. Do you have any content on this kind of situation? Also considering transferring an old LGPS to a SIPP but haven't found a lot of info on the pros/cons of that - do you have any info or sources you could recommend? Just found your channel and enjoying the info so far!

[@MeaningfulMoney]

Hi Erin; you can’t choose at all? That’s unusual to say the least. Tons more info at MeaningfulMoney.tv - thanks for being here!

[@ErinDHM]

@@MeaningfulMoney yep, apparently all employees have their money into this same fund. Now you've said that's unusual I'm going to try and investigate a bit more! Thanks 😊

[@dave518]

@@ErinDHM Who is the pension with? It sounds very strange that you can't change at all.

[@ErinDHM]

@@dave518 - it's with Aegon. I'm hoping it could be a tech issue, but have read elsewhere that it is common to not have the choice, so am a bit confused! Will continue researching and wait to hear back from Aegon for now...

[@guyr7351]

@@ErinDHM Hi did you get any update at all? I know that with company schemes I have been in on initial setting up there was a box to tick asking if wanted the fund to be managed / invested by them according to your age and their strategy. So when younger more aggressive when into 50’s a % going into less volatile / more secure funds

[@shaungregory1789]

Great video Pete. Can you help please. DB transfer pension retiring age 55 Jan 21 looking for drawdown. Our FA rec Our FA recommended Vanguard lifestyle 60 as balanced investor but through Aviva. 3 lots of charges seems a rip off ? Could we transfer to Vanguard direct and only pay their management fees?

[@MeaningfulMoney]

When investing with adviser, you’re going to pay three lots of fees, as you say: adviser fees, platform fees, and fund fees. If you go it alone and invest directly with Vanguard you’ll omit the adviser fees, but still pay for Vanguard’s platform, which is admittedly low cost at 0.15%, and their fund charges which very depending on the fund. So decide if your adviser is offering value. Hint: they’re not offering value in the investment piece - you can do that yourself - but may add value in other ways. Hope that helps…

[@shaungregory1789]

@@MeaningfulMoney checked it out and 14k in costs next year it's not too late to change yeah ! Thank you so much. Great Job.

[@ADF-js9vi]

Hi Pete. Great advice, but please don't sit in a swivel chair. Very difficult to watch you.

[@PeteMatthew]

Ummm. I'm standing up! Do you have the right video?

[@ADF-js9vi]

@@PeteMatthew Sorry. Maybe just that you seem to be swiveling from side to side. Or it's just my eyesight!