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How a pension works

Here you'll find a summary of how your pension works and some of the benefits it can offer you. Tax rules and legislation can change and the value of any tax benefits will depend on your individual circumstances.

 Video transcript

Your employer has set up a pension plan with Royal London to help you save for your retirement.

Each time you save into your plan, so will your employer. You'll also receive tax relief from the government. This can help to boost your pension savings.

You can make single contributions into your plan at any time. Any single contributions you make will benefit from tax relief too. You may be able to transfer pension savings from other pension plans. This could make it easier for you to keep track of them.

We're customer-owned. So when you join your plan, you'll become a member of Royal London and share in our success. We'll aim to give your pension savings an extra boost by adding a share of profits to your plan each year. So if we do well, so do you. We've called this your ProfitShare.

Your pension savings are invested and aim to grow. You can stick with the plan default investment choice, or choose your own investments. Our investment options are reviewed by experts to make sure they meet their objectives. This ongoing governance comes at no extra cost to you. And, when you reach age 55 you can take your pension savings in a way that suits you - even if you're still working.

Speak to your employer to find out more.

Making contributions

Each time you save into your plan, so will your employer. You'll also receive tax relief from the government. This can help to boost your pension savings. Any tax savings you receive will depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Share our success

We'll aim to give your pension 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 pension savings

Your pension savings are invested in the plan default investment choice and aim to 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 make sure they meet their objectives. This ongoing governance comes at no extra cost to you.

Take your pension savings in a way that suits you

You can normally start taking your pension savings any time after age 55. This will increase to age 57 from 6 April 2028.

With each retirement option, you can normally take up to 25% of your pension savings tax free. The other 75% is taxable.

You can take some or all of your plan as a cash lump sum.

If you want more flexibility, you can move to another plan that gives you more flexibility to take a regular income when you need it.

Or you can buy a secure regular income for the rest of your life. This is also known as an 'annuity'.