Hi everyone, just started working for the civil service. I've got the option of a final salary pension (1/60th of final salary per year employed, for 3.5% of pay) and a stakeholder pension. I'm no expert on financial maters like this, but the final salary pension seems like a much better deal - a fairly predictable pension for a nice small chunk of my cash. The stakeholder takes a much greater portion of my income, and is it really likely to result in a greater monthly payout?
Incidentally, I'm hoping to spend a long time in this job (If things go to plan, and it works out as I'm hoping, I'll be here until retirement in almost 40 years :-) ).
Thanks for your help!