It is estimated that there are about two million people in the Government's original target group for stakeholder pensions who already have a personal pension and there are those people that took out Personal Pensions, and for whatever reason, no longer contribute to them.

These people may, therefore, consider whether to switch to a stakeholder pension.

Should you switch from an existing personal pension to another personal or stakeholder pension? That is the question. This is timely following the introduction of stakeholder pensions and other pension legislation. The maximum one per cent charge makes stakeholder pensions cheaper than many personal pensions sold in the past making it potentially attractive for some people to switch.

Whether someone would benefit from switching or not is quite a complicated issue.

There are potential gains from switching if the charges on the new pension are lower than those on their existing pension.

But there are also potential costs because of up-front charges and/or exit charges on the existing pension.

Consumers need to think carefully about the costs and benefits before making their decision and may need to seek independent financial advice.

For further information contact 01793 813194.