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How a pension works

Here you'll find a summary of how a pension works and some of the benefits it can offer you.

Making contributions

Each time you save into your plan, so will your employer and the government. Employer contributions depend on your age and earnings. Contributions from the government are also referred to as 'tax relief' - they depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Share our success

We'll aim to give your retirement savings an extra boost by adding a share of our profits to your plan each year. So if we do well, so do you. We've called this your ProfitShare.

Investing your retirement savings

Your retirement savings are invested in the plan default investment choice to help them grow.

You can stick with this option or choose your own investments.

Remember that investment returns are never guaranteed. So while your savings could grow, their value can also go down. This means you could get back less than you put into your plan.

Our investment options are reviewed by experts. This helps to make sure they meet their objectives. This ongoing governance comes at no extra cost to you.

Take your retirement savings in a way that suits you

You can normally start taking your retirement benefits any time after age 55.

Take some or all of your plan as a cash lump sum – 25% of each lump sum will be tax-free. Or if you want a guaranteed income for life, take up to 25% of your plan as a tax-free cash sum and use the rest to buy an annuity.

You can also move to another plan that gives you the flexibility to take a regular income when you need it. Unlike an annuity, income payments are not guaranteed for the rest of your life. As the rest of your savings stay invested, both the income payments and the value of your plan may go down.