What should I do with my pension pot now I've been made redundant?

I am a 58 year old man, recently made redundant.

I am looking to try and improve the returns I am getting from a Scottish Widows pension plan which I joined through my employer - it is not a defined benefit or final salary type.

I am aware of Robo advisors like Wealthify and I am experimenting with £500 invested since Jan 2020 - it has so far returned 2.3% on the original amount - so better than the banks or building societies.

So my question is, where can I stash approx £13K where I can either decide the Funds allocation or let a Robo-advisor take over?

Thanks,

Andrew

Hi Andrew

I am sorry to hear about your redundancy.

Firstly, your employer pension would usually have lower charges than a personal pension elsewhere. They typically offer investment options with an asset allocation based on the level of risk you want to take, so it is worth exploring what you can do with that contract before deciding to move it. Often people leave their workplace pensions in the default investment selected by their employer, but you would have other options available to you within this pension.

If you decide to change the provider, I suggest that you research the provider you want to use first and then instruct the transfer rather than leaving the money sitting somewhere in the interim. Taking this step first reduces the impact of the money not being invested while you make your decision.

If you transferred the money to a pension elsewhere leaving it in cash while you decide, changes to the investment could mean that the point where you sell and the point where you buy back into an investment is significantly different in a good or bad way. By deciding what you want to do before you move the money, you reduce this risk. If you intend to cash in your pension to invest the funds, I would strongly urge you to consider the tax costs.

I hope this helps.