SSAS's Cost to Set UP

Hi , I am investigating the cost to set up a SSAS pension. From what I found the best I can find is

Set Up fee = 1000
Annual Management = 0.5% of NAV.

Is this correct?

0.5% of Nav ?

1. Who decides the NAV of my portfolio ( esp if property included)
2. The pension trustee ( whom I need for set up ) is taking 0.5% of my money for doing what exactly? I do the investing , I do the trading ( investment costs of individual investments are my own look out). if I had 500K worth of investments , trustee gets 2.5k a year .. so say 25k in tens years assuming no growth.. if it halved in value they would still get more than 12500 in ten years.. ??? Is my understanding correct ?

Surely there is a fee only basis.. like an accountant. e.g. 1000 per annum to check for compliance and CBI filing etc.. ????

You are paying them for compliance, annual accounts and to be there to make sure you don't do anything you are not supposed to do. Insurance costs and regulation fees increase the more money under management (Central Bank levies went up 45% this year!).

If you want to pay a fee, ask the pensioneer trustee if he would accept a fee rather than % of assets. Expect to pay at least €2,000 a year.

Why charge a percentage? It's the world of finance, everything is charged as percentages. Even the government produced PRSA, only charges in percentages are allowed, fixed amounts aren't allowed.

Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)

Are you wedded to the idea of buying direct property? That's the primary reason people opt for SSASs. Why not set up an Executive Pension and buy REITs for your property exposure?

REITs were introduced in Ireland to provide an alternative to our gombeen obsession with buying individual properties. Yet the take up isn't great...

My annual charge is fixed at 2000 which I feel is reasonable.Like everything else you should shop around.

Thanks All. Appreciate the feedback.

@gordongekko, nope absolutely not wedded to idea on purchasing direct property and I agree, I think REITS are a super idea. I was just using Property as an example of a subjective valuation.