‘I decided to start investing in my 50s to make up for lost time’

Louise Ferguson, 60, is a technology consultant and carer from Dorset.

Up until five years ago, Louise’s only pension was from a final-salary scheme that she had paid into for five years when working in a full-time job 30 years ago. After leaving her job, she became a sole trader as a technology consultant, but had overlooked saving into a pension. ‘It was only around five years ago that I realised I needed to save for retirement and that one small final salary pot wasn’t going to be enough,’ she says.

Louise set up a pension with the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), a low-cost government-backed

pension scheme that some self-employed people can join, but she wasn’t happy with the returns. ‘My money needed to do better, so I opened a stocks and shares ISA and a pension with investment platforms Nutmeg and AJ Bell Youinvest,’ she says. ‘I did some research and learned more about picking my own funds, and have now moved everything into AJ Bell, where I have a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and an ISA. I also took the lump sum from my final salary pot and invested that, because I was confident I could make it grow more that way, which I did. I have put most of my pension and ISA money into investment funds and some bonds. I make sure they are balanced, so that I am not taking too much risk as I get closer to retirement.’

Louise did her own research, reading specialist titles and going to events to learn about investing and has seen her pension and ISA grow. ‘I feel self-sufficient and empowered and will continue investing even after I stop working,’ she says.