Hi
Longtime observor of ask about money, some great advice here
I have a company pension that I pay 5% of my income and my company matches this. I am over 50 and would like to maximise my contributions for tax reasons ( higher rate taxpayer) and to start pumping more in.
my question is do I have to put my extra contributions into the company pension or can I set up a separate private pension with more competitive charges etc? I am aware I will have to do a yearly return to avail of the tax relief ( I do this anyway as I recently had a rental property )
My spouse does not have a pension, she is mid forties and never started a private pension and is keen to start one now. Her workplace does not provide a pension or match any contributions so she would have to set this up herself.. can I check if we do get one set up soon, can she put in a full contribution for the year 2021 as her opening payment? and start monthly payments going forward.
can we set this up ourselves or are we better going for professional advice?