Should I opt out of NEST pension scheme as a young worker?
I am working in the UK. It's my first permanent job and I've discovered on my last payslip a line named NEST Pension Scheme. I googled a bit and I have discovered what it is but first, as it seems to have very cautious approach around the age 27 according to this video it seems to me plain wrong as it robs me out of the best coumpounding years I could get with a good portfolio approach (I'm saving a few £ every month on EToro). Second, I have no intent working forever in the UK. Should I opt out or am I missing something?
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You should almost certainly stay enrolled, because your employer will be contributing at least 3% of your earnings to your pension, and the government at least 1% (basic rate tax relief), in exchange for you contributing 4%. You won’t get a rate of return on alternative investments that makes up for losing the employer and government contributions. The downside though is that you can’t withdraw money until some time in your fifties, and money withdrawn is taxable as income.
It looks like you can select a different fund within NEST:
www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/nest/members/my-nest-pension/how-does-nest-manage-my-money.html
For example you might choose the "Nest Higher Risk Fund" if you prefer to take more risk than their default allocation. Note that their funds are already bucketed by your age so may already be targeting a reasonable level of growth.
As the other answer says, you should definitely stick with NEST given the employer contribution. You could get the tax rebate ("government contribution") with another pension, but probably not the employer contribution.
Also note that once you stop contributing to NEST, e.g. when you leave your job, you can move the money to another pension that might give you more investment control: www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/memberhelpcentre/transfers/when-to-transfer-money-out.html
You can get a "SIPP" (Self-Invested Personal Pension), but check the charges carefully as many are quite expensive especially if you only have a fairly small pot of money.
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