Scottish Widows Workplace Pension

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Your workplace pension is a long-term investment that helps you save for your retirement in a tax-efficient way.

They are arranged by your employer. A percentage of your pay is paid into your pension automatically every payday. 

Even when you leave an employer, it doesn't mean that you've left the pension you had with them. It's still your pension - you can make payments into it. You can also choose how your pension is invested.
 

Here we explain:

  • More about what our Scottish Widows Workplace Pensions offer
  • How to review your investments
  • What you can do with your pension

WHAT THE SCOTTISH WIDOWS WORKPLACE PENSION OFFERS

WHAT THE SCOTTISH WIDOWS WORKPLACE PENSION OFFERS

  • You can view and manage your pension online 
  • There are no charges for switching funds or lifestyle options
  • There’s a range of ways you can take benefits from this pension.

Switching means moving the investment you have in one option to another.

REVIEW HOW YOUR WORKPLACE PENSION IS INVESTED

REVIEW HOW YOUR WORKPLACE PENSION IS INVESTED

Pensions play a vital role in helping you save for the future. But it can be hard to tell if you're saving enough. If you’ve not reviewed your pensions for a while, it’s a good idea to take some time to consider if they’re still right for you.

Here are two things you can do: 

  • Find out how much your investments are currently worth.

Every year we’ll send you an annual statement, which will tell you how much your pension is currently worth and what it could be worth at your selected retirement date. You can get an up to date valuation using our online services or, call us for a valuation on 0345 716 6777.  We’re available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

  • Review the funds or lifestyle strategy your pension is invested in – are they still suitable?  We show you these in your annual statement.

Unless you’ve chosen to change this, your pension will be invested in your scheme’s default investment option. This usually provides what is known as a lifestyling option. This automatically moves from higher-risk investments in the early years, when you can normally afford to take more risk, to lower-risk investments, as you approach your selected retirement date. 

With newer lifestyle options, as you move closer to your retirement date, the investments you’re in will depend on the retirement option you selected. This could be cashing in your pension savings, buying an annuity to provide a guaranteed income for life, or remaining invested to draw an income when you want.

You can invest in funds if you don’t want to invest in a lifestyle strategy.

You can find out more about these funds and other available funds at Scottish Widows Funds, Select Brand as Scottish Widows and then one of the following: 

Pension Funds – Series 2  

Pension Funds – Series CS7: 
Group Personal Pension starting after 01/10/2021 
Scheme number starts with the letter “N”. 
Plan number starts with the prefix “SW”.

Pension Funds – Series CS8: 

Group Personal Pension starting after 31/07/2000 
scheme number has recently been changed to start with the letter “N”. 
plan number has recently been changed to start with the prefix “SW”.

Here you’ll find fund factsheets, which give information about each fund and its aim - what the fund is trying to achieve by how it’s invested.

Consider the aims and risks of the funds and decide if these still meet your investment needs. You can see the fund charges on funds available to your plan at www.scottishwidows.co.uk/funds/fund-charges.

It's important to:
  • Think about how much risk you’re willing or able to take with your investments as this can change over time. 
  • Remember the value of your investment isn’t guaranteed, it can go down as well as up. So, you might get back less than you invested.

Our Factsheet explainer (PDF, 260KB) is an interactive guide to what you can expect to find in each of the sections within the Fund’s Factsheet.

Understand what your retirement could look like

Look at your State Pension

Look at your State Pension

The State Pension could be a big part of your retirement income when you can get this, which could be in your late 60s. See what you'll get, at what age you'll get it and whether making up for any missed National Insurance contributions might get you more.

We also have some calculators to help you to consider whether you should be saving more and if you’re on track to reach your goals.

Your retirement age is when you want to start taking benefits from your pension and you don’t have to stop working to do this. You’re normally able to take your benefits anytime between the age of 55 and 75, although the minimum age is set to increase to 57 in 2028.

What you can do

Change what you're investing in

Change what you're investing in

View and manage your pension online with our mobile app and online services.

Or you can 

We’ll be happy to help you, but we can’t offer you financial advice or give you recommendations about what to invest in.

It’s a very good idea to get financial advice before you do this. Advisers will normally charge for advice.

You can find your plan number on your Annual Benefit Statement or on any letters from us. If you use our secure online services, you can find your plan number there as well.

Top-up your pension

Top-up your pension

You can still make a difference to your retirement by paying more into your pension, if you can. Remember, you get help from income tax relief and your employer might match your payments too. This can make a difference to the income you receive when you’re ready to take your pension.

If you have a pension from a previous employer, you can still pay into it yourself. The minimum payment is £16 before tax relief. 

This example is based on a basic rate tax payer.

Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and tax rules both of which can change. For more information on all tax rates, visit the HMRC website.

What is salary exchange

If you have a workplace pension with salary exchange, you may get a bit more. Find out how this works by watching our video.

Combine your pensions

Combine your pensions

You could bring all your pensions together into one plan, either with us or another pension company. We don’t charge for doing this. 

This may be useful, but you need to be careful that you don’t lose any guarantees or plan features you may have on any pension you’re planning to transfer. It’s also important to compare the fund charges and available investment options. 

Our free non advised online service might help you make an informed decision and you can use this if you’d like to transfer other pensions you have to your pension with us. You can also do this using our mobile app and online services.

To transfer a pension away, get in touch with the pension company to see if they can accept a transfer. If they can, they may be able to start the transfer request for you.

You can't transfer an active workplace pension to another pension company.

Take benefits from your pension

Take benefits from your pension

You’re able to take your benefits anytime between the age of 55 and 75, although the minimum age is set to increase to 57 in 2028. If you’re thinking about starting to take benefits from your pension visit Retirement Options webpage for more information on the options for you.

What next?

We hope you found this useful, for details about our other products go back to what you can do

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