pension advice

i know very little about pensions but i want to start one. I have actually paid for about 7 years into a company pension fund but i left my job last year and havent had a pension in the meantime.

as i said i know very little but i heard there was a program on an english tv station recently which exposed (or claimed ??) that there is no good pension fund in the UK - and i suppose ireland is similar if that's the case

to be honest i would much prefer security rather than anything - so im not into risk in the slightest - in fact i considered buying gold or something like that because of it's inherent value - as i suspected though ( and maybe someone could confirm this ) the value of gold doesnt keep up with inflation

in short - has anybody got any advice for me - i want something that i can both rely on - and be able to get out of if it looks like it's not as reliable at it was when it started

You could go for a capital secured product with one of the large insurance companies.

If you have an existing pension fund they can transfer this across (as long as its not defined benefit - if so probably better off leaving where it is).

If you are concerned about security take a low risk product. Your broker can advise on this.

If you're very risk averse, you can invest in a Cash Fund, which is effectively putting your money on deposit, but still availing of the tax reliefs associated with a pension.

If you're looking for Government protection, you could consider Standard Life. As Standard Life Ireland is a branch of the UK parent company all policies taken out since 1st December 2001 are covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the event of a Standard Life default. This covers 100% of the value of the policy up to £2,000, plus 90% of the balance, without limit. There is no equivalent Irish protection scheme.

www.ferga.com