Meet our Ready-Made Pension

When you tell us the age at which you expect to retire, we’ll invest your money in a Retirement Portfolio that targets the five-year retirement period in which you told us you expect to retire.

For example, someone who’s 40 in 2024 and wishing to retire at 60, would be placed in a Retirement Portfolio that targets the years 2041-2045.  We’ll then use a process called ‘lifestyling’ to gradually reduce the level of risk in your portfolio as you get closer to retirement.

Growth phase

If you take out a Ready-Made Pension more than 10 years from your retirement age, your Retirement Portfolio will be fully invested in the higher risk Managed Growth Fund 6, to give you the best chance of growth. This is the ‘Growth phase’. 

De-risking phase

As your Retirement Portfolio reaches 10 years before its five-year target retirement date range, it moves into the ‘De-risking phase’, when the risk level of your investment starts to be reduced each year.

We gradually move some of your pension into our Managed Growth Fund 2, which is a lower-risk fund.  

Although this reduces the growth potential, it also aims to help protect what you’ve built up if there are any downturns. 

At retirement phase

When you reach the five-year range of your chosen retirement age, your Retirement Portfolio will move into the ‘At Retirement Phase’. From then on, most of your pension will be invested in the Managed Growth Fund 2.

Everything happens automatically so you don’t have to worry about it.

To help you understand how the funds have performed over a longer period, see our graph.

This goes back five years and shows the performance of the fund over time. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

The performance data includes the ongoing charge and all transaction costs within the fund, but does not include the 0.3% account fee.

No, you can transfer one or more older pensions, as long as the total initial value is over £10,000. This will open your Ready-Made Pension and once this is set up, you can add more pensions to it anytime in the future.

Transferring might not be right for everyone.

You can’t transfer every type of pension. Here’s a list of pensions that we can’t accept.

Pensions with guarantees

This is a pension with a Guaranteed Annuity Rate. It means you could get a higher income than you’d get at today’s rates when you retire

Guaranteed Minimum Pension or Section 9(2B) rights

These may provide you with a guaranteed income when you retire. You’re not likely to match this amount when transferring. Please check with your current provider, as they should have more details on this.

Guaranteed Conversion Option

This allows you to convert your pension into a fund, which gives you access to a wider, more flexible range of benefit options. At today’s rates, it’s unlikely that this fund will be worth as much as your original pension.

Pensions with defined benefits

Also known as final salary benefits, this is where you receive guaranteed pension income based on your salary, rather than how much you’ve paid in. Your current provider should have more details on this.

Workplace pension

A pension that you and an employer still pay into.

Other reasons you can’t transfer

Your pension may be with a provider outside of the UK. It could be subject to a pension sharing or earmarking order following a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. Or it has been, or will be, set up using disqualifying pension credits. This is when the pension sharing order is applied to a pension already in payment or income drawdown.

If you’re not sure, speak to your financial adviser. We can help you find an adviser if you don’t already have one. Advisers will normally charge for advice.​

To see what you may get back from your pension, we’ll provide an example illustration when you apply. These figures are only examples and aren’t guaranteed – they’re not minimum or maximum amounts.

We’ll send you a personalised illustration when your Ready-Made Pension is set up.

There’s no limit to how much you can save into a pension throughout your lifetime. But you can normally only pay up to £60,000, called the annual allowance, into your pensions each tax year without paying a tax charge. Or up to 100% of your taxable yearly income if less than this amount. 

You can also carry forward up to three previous tax years’ worth of unused allowances.

One of the benefits of investing into a pension is tax relief. If the basic rate of tax is 20%, for every £120 you pay in, the government will top this up with an extra £30.

We’ll add basic rate tax relief automatically to any regular or one-off contributions you make into to your Ready-Made Pension. If you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you can claim extra tax relief through your self-assessment tax return.

How much you can pay in without a tax charge will depend on your circumstances.

• You can normally pay up to £60,000 (the annual allowance) into your pensions each tax year without paying a tax charge (or up to 100% of your taxable yearly income if less).
• If you’re not working and don’t have any income, you can still pay in £3,600 each tax year (you pay in £2,880, with £720 tax relief).
• If you’re a high earner, a lower limit could apply known as Tapered Annual Allowance. See further information at www.gov.uk.
• If you’ve taken out a taxable cash sum or flexible income, the amount you can contribute without paying a tax charge is limited to £10,000 (the Money Purchase Annual Allowance).

Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances. Your circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.

If you would like financial advice, you could speak to an Independent Financial Adviser. Unbiased and Vouchedfor will let you find a local adviser based on your requirements. There will be a charge for this service.

You get free help and guidance through Pension Wise. If you’re over 50, you’ll also benefit from a free 60-minute appointment.

Alternatively, our partners Schroders Personal Wealth could also help. They provide personalised advice on a range of different products and services. It all starts with a free, no obligation chat, then a financial plan that’s tailored to you. To be eligible, you’ll have at least £100,000 in sole or joint savings, investments or personal pensions, or sole income of at least £100,000. Fees and charges may apply.

You can use the Government’s Pension Tracing Service.