subject: What You Should Know About Sipp Investments [print this page] In recent years, more and more people have opted to personally plan for their retirement. As such, they have resorted to SIPPs. SIPPs, or self invested pension plans, like the name suggests is a personal pension plan. It is similar to bog-standard pension plans in terms of eligibility, tax relief and contributions. However, the difference lies in the fact that with SIPPs, you have a wider choice of investments. You do not need to have a substantial amount of money to invest in SIPPs. Nevertheless, it is important to note that having a large fund will accord you more investment opportunities.
What you can invest in
With SIPPs, there are numerous assets that you can invest in. These include but are not limited to, stocks and shares, investment trusts, government bond, unit trusts, commercial property, endowment policies and offshore funds. The reason why many people are opting for self invested pension plans has to do with the fact that it allows the individual greater freedom. That is, you are free to choose what you want to invest in. Moreover, the plan holds the investments directly. As a SIPP holder, you have the option of either personally managing your investments or hiring a stock broker or fund manager like New Frontier Advisory, to do it on your behalf.
Getting started with SIPP investments
A quick search online and the results reveal that there are numerous companies operating SIPPs. While some are run by financial advisers, others are operated by financial institutions. Still, it is not uncommon to find specialists such as New Frontier Advisory offering such services. SIPPs can either be started by an employer or the individuals. Nonetheless, the easiest way to access SIPPs is via a providers website. The provider could be a fund manager, insurance companies or pension consultants such as New Frontier Advisory. SIPP is very much akin to online banking in that you will be able to not only see just how much money you have but also where it has been invested. If you opt to personally invest your cash, the SIPP company you choose, for instance New Frontier Advisory will provide you with an execution only service. This allows you to decide where to invest your funds.
If you would like to personally plan for your retirement, then SIPP is the way to go. Unlike other plans, SIPPs give you freedom to choose what you would like to invest in.
