[joglynne]

I agree Al, our pensions are too important to be left to chance. The charges of a decent independent financial advisor may not be cheap but they could save you a lot in the future. I certainly would not accept the recommendations of either my employer or his friend without checking that the fund they are proposing is as good as they claim.

We have a friend who found that his internal pension scheme paid out a pension that was a lot less than expected even though he had been assured by his company that they had taken expert advise and had made several predictions over the years. He, and several other ex-employees, are currently in a battle to prove that the employer and the underwriters of the pension scheme did not take sufficient steps to safeguard the employees pensions.

You have the opportunity to make sure you are not placed in the same position.