Private pension schemes
Workplace pensions and personal or stakeholder pensions are a way of making sure you have money on top of your State Pension.
For most workplace and personal pensions, how much you get depends on:
the amount you’ve paid in
how well the pension fund’s investments have done
your age – and sometimes your health – when you start taking your pension pot
Workplace pensions
Your employer must automatically enrol you in a workplace pension scheme if you’re over 22 and under State Pension age, and earn more than £10,000 a year.
If you have a workplace pension your employer can make contributions on top of what you pay.
You may also be able to make extra payments to boost your pension pot.
Workplace pensions are protected against risks.
Personal and stakeholder pensions
You may want a personal or stakeholder pension:
to save extra money for later in life
to top up your workplace pension
if you’re self-employed and do not have a workplace pension
if you’re not working but can afford to pay into a pension scheme
Some employers offer stakeholder or private pensions as workplace pensions.
Stakeholder pensions must meet standards set by the government.
Find a lost pension
The Pension Tracing Service might be able to trace lost pensions that you’ve paid into.
Nominate someone to get your pension when you die
Ask your pension provider if you can nominate someone to get money from your pension pot after you die.
Check your scheme’s rules about:
who you can nominate – some payments can only go to a dependant, for example your husband, wife, civil partner or child under 23
what the person can get, for example regular payments or lump sums
whether anything can change what the person gets, for example when and how you start taking your pension pot, or the age you die
Sometimes the pension provider can pay the money to someone else, for example if the person you nominated cannot be found or has died.
The person you nominate may have to pay tax if they get money from your pension pot after you die.
