A Personal Pension for a better retirement.

What is a Personal Pension?

Though they can seem complicated, the basic principles of pensions are quite simple, you’re essentially putting aside some money now so that you can use it later.

Tax relief is a major incentive to invest in a pension as it is added to your contributions at your personal rate.

• Basic-rate taxpayers get 20% – meaning every £80 contributed
  rises to £100
• Higher-rate taxpayers get 40% – meaning every £60 contributed
  rises to £100
• Additional-rate taxpayers get 45% – meaning every £55
  contributed rises to £100

The 20% is applied automatically, whilst the additional 20% or 25% can be reclaimed through a self-assessment tax return.

To withdraw from your pension, you need to be at least 55 years old (rising to 57 from 2028).

You can manage your withdrawals as best suits your lifestyle, which may mean withdrawing a monthly income to replace your salary, taking a lump sum, or a mixture of the two.

You can take 25% of your pension tax-free but you will pay Income Tax when withdrawing the remaining 75%.

If you’re new to pensions, it’s worth reading our guide to choosing the right pension.

It’s important to remember that, as with all investing, your capital is at risk in a Personal Pension. Investments can fluctuate in value and you may get back less than you invest.

Get more from your pension allowances.

There are two main types of pension allowance to keep in mind:

Annual Allowance – you can get tax relief on contributions up to 100% of your annual income or £40,000 (whichever is lower).

Lifetime Allowance – you’ll be charged tax if the total value of your pensions exceeds £1,073,100.

As part of our financial advice service, we’ll make sure you are getting the most from your tax allowances each year.