It was in conversation with a friend recently, who has just started working for a new company, that I was asked if I believed it makes any sense to join a pension scheme offered by an employer. He was told that if he put 4% of gross salary into his pension that the employer would put 6% in, totaling 10% of his gross salary. This seems like a reasonable offer from the employer in this Defined Contribution scheme however he had concerns which he shared with me!

Having done a little of his own research he had concerns about the fees that he had read of, concerns about the fact that ‘you could get back less than you invest’, and the mystery about how one goes about taking the money out at the end. These 3 very real and very common questions and concerns lead to, I guess, many people not engaging with pension, and without answers to those questions I wouldn’t blame them for a second!

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In trying to answer the question ‘should I join my company’s pension scheme or not’ it might be worth taking each of the 3 questions, not with a view to finding an answer in the affirmative but a considered and credible answer!

Paddy Delaney

QFA | RPA | APA | Executive Coach