Personal pension

Our personal pension is provided and administered by Aviva – one of the UK’s largest insurance companies.

What is a personal pension?

A personal pension offers you a tax efficient way to build up a fund to use when you retire. If you’re self employed, or if your employer doesn’t have a company pension scheme, a personal pension could be the right way to save for your own retirement.

You can also use a personal pension to top up the benefits you’ll receive under a company pension scheme.

Personal pensions enjoy a number of key tax advantages over other types of savings including:

• Tax relief on your contributions
• Tax efficient growth in your pension fund
• The ability to take up to 25% of your pension fund as tax-free cash

Key points about our personal pension

• Flexible contributions – you can make monthly or annual and single contributions. The minimum monthly contribution is £200. You can make a transfer from another pension fund and your employer can make contributions
• Investment choice – we offer a choice of three professionally managed investment funds to suit cautious, balanced or adventurous investors, or you can choose from a wide range of individual funds
• Retirement options – you’re not tied to us when you decide to take your benefits – you can shop around to see who’s offering the best annuity rates

Who is it for?

A personal pension could be right for you if:

• You’re employed but not a member of a pension scheme, or self employed
• You receive regular bonuses and want to invest them for your future
• Your employer is going to make a contribution to your pension

Need help deciding?

A chat with one of our financial planning advisers is without obligation. Call us to make an appointment.
0800 051 1871

Provided you are under age 75, you can start a personal pension whenever you want.

Starting your plan

• How much do you need to save? – you can save up to 100% of your earnings in a personal pension, subject to a maximum of £255,000 (2010/11).
• What about single contributions? – could be a tax efficient way to invest your bonuses
• Will your employer contribute? – it’s worth asking the question, every penny counts

Deciding how your money is invested

You can invest your savings across a wide range of cash, bond, property and equity funds. Alternatively, you can select one of our multi-manager investment funds. These invest in a variety of different assets across the globe and held with a number of specialist managers so they don’t rely on one manager or one asset to perform well.

Building your fund

The contributions you save benefit from the growth and tax efficiency of the investment fund or funds you have chosen.

When you retire

You can take your pension benefits whenever you want between age 55 and 75. You can choose how your benefits are paid:

• An income for life – use the whole fund to buy an annuity which will guarantee you an income for the rest of your life
• Income and tax free cash – take up to 25% of your pension fund as a tax free lump sum and use the rest to buy a smaller annuity
• Phased retirement – where your pension fund is split into segments and used up gradually. You can take 25% of each segment as tax free cash and the rest is used to buy an annuity

Need help deciding?

A chat with one of our financial planning advisers is without obligation. Call us to make an appointment.
0800 051 1871

Personal pensions are arguably the most flexible, tax efficient way to save for your retirement and enjoy a range of benefits.

Tax benefits

• You get tax relief on your contributions, the amount of tax relief depends on how much you earn
• Your contributions grow in a tax efficient fund
• You can take up to 25% of your pension fund as tax free cash

Contribution benefits

• You can contribute monthly or annually
• You can make one-off lump sum contributions whenever you like
• Your employer can contribute
• If you have any other pensions, you can normally transfer them to your personal pension
• You can contribute up to 100% of your earnings each year (maximum £255,000 2010/11)

Other benefits

• You can change, stop and restart your contributions whenever you want
• Even if you don’t have any earnings, you can still get tax relief on contributions of up to £3,600 a year
• A wide investment choice – including portfolio funds to suit your attitude to risk
• Switch between investment funds
• Your money is transferred to low risk funds as you near retirement to protect your pension

Need help deciding?

A chat with one of our financial planning advisers is without obligation. Call us to make an appointment.
0800 051 1871

• How much can I pay into a personal pension each year?
• Can I transfer other pensions into a personal pension?
• How do I claim higher rate tax relief on my contributions?
• When can I start taking my personal pension benefits?
• What happens if I die before I retire?

How much can I pay into a personal pension each year?
The total amount paid in is subject to a limit (called the Annual Allowance) of £255,000 for the 2010/11 tax year.

Can I transfer other pensions into a personal pension?
Yes, our personal pension accepts transfers from most other personal pensions and company schemes.

How do I claim higher rate tax relief on my contributions?
You have to claim any higher rate tax relief through your annual self-assessment tax return. Your accountant or tax adviser can help you with this.

When can I start taking my personal pension benefits?
You can start taking your benefits from age 55. Under certain circumstances, if you cannot work due to ill health, you make be able to take your benefits earlier than this.

What happens if I die before I retire?
There are two options available:

• Return of fund – we’ll pay out the value of your pension fund
• Dependant’s pension – your fund can be used to buy a pension for your spouse, civil partner or other dependants