However, you really need a crystal ball, because that is a question nobody can answer,” she says.Anna Bowes, savings and investment manager at financial advisers Chase De Vere, says many traditional pension plans increase charges in the early years to cover upfront commission to the financial adviser. “But thereafter charges may fall dramatically, possibly to a lower level than stakeholder. If you have paid the early high charges, switching to stakeholder could prove costly.”For some, deciding whether to transfer to stakeholder will be a straightforward decision. Virgin Direct, for example, transferred its 26,000 existing pension customers into the new stakeholder from 6 April. Insurance companies Legal & General, Norwich Union, Scottish Equitable, Scottish Life and Scottish Widows have reduced charges on their existing plans in line with stakeholder. But for many, independent financial advice may be worth taking.

If you are one of the eight million employees in an occupational pension scheme, the decision may prove more straightforward. The huge advantage of workplace pensions is that most employers make contributions of between 3 and 5 per cent of salaries, sometimes more. That does not happen with stakeholder plans.If you have a final salary pension, you should stay put. For each year you have worked for your employer, final salary schemes pay one-sixtieth of your salary prior to retirement. If you have worked for your employer for 15 years, you will get a quarter of that salary as pension each year. This scheme is hugely attractive because your retirement income is guaranteed, regardless of how stock markets perform.Unfortunately, final salary schemes are becoming increasingly rare, as many companies find the guaranteed benefits too expensive. BT is the most recent big name to close its final salary scheme to new staff.

Two other types of workplace pension are money-purchase schemes and group personal pension plans. Both invest your contributions, and employer contributions, in the stock market. The value of your pension fund depends largely on investment performance, which means that, unlike final salary schemes, retirement income is not guaranteed.”If you are in a money-purchase or group personal pension plan and your employer makes contributions on your behalf, you should still stick with that plan,” says Ms Saunders.If you want to boost your pension pot, you can run a stakeholder top-up scheme alongside your company scheme, investing up to £3,600 a year. Many employees who have topped up their company scheme with additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) or free-standing additional voluntary contributions (FSAVCs) may now find stakeholder a more cost-efficient, flexible option.If your employer offers no pension scheme, they may be obliged to from 8 October. Should you then transfer into the scheme? The answer depends on whether your employer agrees to contribute to the scheme. If they do, then most people should consider signing up, as those extra contributions are an excellent perk. But watch out for exit penalties if you stop an existing plan.If your employer does not contribute to stakeholder, and they are not obliged to contribute, most staff will be better off sticking with any existing personal pension plan, or setting up a stakeholder in their own name.