Retirement Account is a personal pension plan that supports you to and through retirement.
While receiving favourable tax treatment
Over the way you access your benefits
The move from work to retirement
If you're consolidating pensions, you can apply for a Retirement Account online.
Otherwise 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.
You can view our Retirement Account guide here for more detailed product information.
Retirement Account has two parts
Moving your pension savings into Retirement Income allows you to take a flexible, taxable income, while giving the remainder of your Account the opportunity to grow.
We have broken the overall charges down into their component parts, so you should always have a clear picture of the costs.
If you are transferring to Retirement Account, we won't charge you for doing this.
We take this charge for setting up and managing your Retirement Account.
If the total value of your Retirement Account increases, the rate of Service Charge can decrease. If the total value of your Retirement Account decreases, the rate of Service Charge can increase.
| Total value of Retirement Account | Service charge (per year) | |
|---|---|---|
| From | To less than | |
| £0 | £30k | 0.90% |
| £30k | £50k | 0.40% |
| £50k | £250k | 0.30% |
| £250k | £500k | 0.25% |
| £500k | £1m | 0.20% |
| £1m+ | 0.10% | |
The Service Charge will be split proportionally between the Retirement Planning and Retirement Income parts of your account. It will be deducted monthly and the first Service Charge will be deducted one month after the Retirement Account start date.
The table above shows the standard rates that apply for new Retirement Account applications. These rates may change in the future.
Investment charges depend on the type of investments you choose. See Retirement Planning Investment Options for Direct Customers (25966) for more details.
For the Governed Investment Strategies, the charge is currently 0.1%* each year
Example
If you have £50,000 invested in a Governed Investment Strategy, every year we would charge you:
* Note that in certain circumstances, the Investment Charge will be 0.2% on part of your pension savings – see the Retirement Planning Investment Options for Direct Customers (25966) for more details.
These charges will only apply if you have instructed us to pay a financial adviser for any advice and services they’ve given you on your Retirement Account. We’ll deduct any agreed amounts from the value of your plan and pay them to your adviser.
The minimum payments into a new Retirement Account, after any tax relief has been added, are:
| Payment type | Minimum payment (gross) |
|---|---|
| Transfer | £10,000 |
| Single | £10,000 |
| Yearly | £2,400 |
| Monthly | £200 |
Please note – if there is more than one person paying into your Retirement Account, the different payers can reach the minimum payment amount between them. Different payment types can also be combined to achieve the minimum amount.
The minimum additional payments into an existing Retirement Account, after any tax relief has been added, are:
| Payment type | Minimum payment (gross) |
|---|---|
| Transfer | £2,000 |
| Single | £2,000 |
| Yearly | £600 |
| Monthly | £50 |
The minimum movement is £10,000 (before any tax-free lump sum is taken), provided there is at least £30,000 in the Retirement Planning part before any amounts are moved into Retirement Income.
The minimum additional movement is £2,000 (before any tax-free lump sum is taken). Any remaining balance in the Retirement Planning part, if lower, can also be moved to Retirement Income, even if this is less than £2,000.
To and through retirement, we want to make sure you have the investment choice that you need.
Our fund managers will invest your funds in assets with the aim of achieving a positive return over time to grow your pension pot using our extensive multi asset fund experience, expert asset allocation and robust governance.
When you open a Retirement Account online, we take the hassle out of choosing individual funds and have designed investment choices to suit you.
You just need to think about two things:
This will allow us to place you in the lifestyle strategy that suits you. Our lifestyle strategies are called Governed Investment Strategies.
The lifestyle strategies do the hard work for you. Automatically adjusting how your pension is invested over time, gradually moving into lower risk funds as you get closer to your selected retirement age.
And the investment charge is only 0.1% a year (note If you expect to take a guaranteed income for life in retirement this will gradually rise to 0.2% a year in the five years before you retire).
Get more detail about your retirement planning investment options (pdf).
When you’re ready to take income from your plan, you’ll need to think about how best to invest your remaining pension to help achieve your retirement goals.
That’s why we we’ve created Investment Pathways to help simplify the decision.They are designed to help you meet your retirement income needs, based on your broad aims over the next five years in retirement.
The decision about which one to choose is based on the different ways you can take your pension.
Find out more about Investment Options for Retirement Income Guide (pdf).
There are a number of other investment options available if you take out Retirement Account through an adviser.
If you would like to look at other options for investing, you should seek independent financial advice. If you don't have a financial adviser, we can help you find one here. Please be aware an adviser will charge you for this service.
You can keep track of your Retirement Account online or over the phone. We’ll also send you statements in the post.
We’ll let you know how to register online. Once you’ve set up your Retirement Account. You’ll be able to:
Every year, we’ll send you a statement in the post. This shows all contributions for the year, tax relief and the value of your pension pot.
You can normally access your pension savings from age 55 or over. Where you can choose one or more of the following options:
Retirement Account allows you to pass on the value of your pension to a loved one when you die, as a lump sum or an income.
If you die before you are 75, these benefits are normally tax-free. If you die on or after age 75, your benefits are taxable.
It's important to keep us up to date with who you want to leave your pension to in the event of your death, otherwise known as a beneficiary.
When you set up a Retirement Account we'll send you an expression of wish form so you can nominate a beneficiary, and if you want to make changes we can send you a new one.
Scottish Widows will take account of your wishes but we are not bound by them. As we use our discretion to decide who is to receive the benefits, they do not normally form part of your estate, where they may by subject to Inheritance Tax.
Take a look at how Retirement Account supports you and your loved ones:
If your Retirement Account has been up and running for less than five years and you die in an accident, your beneficiaries will normally receive whichever is greater:
If you’ve held a Retirement Account for more than five years, your beneficiaries will get the value of your plan.
If you have other pension plans you want to consolidate, you can do this by setting up a Retirement Account online. Get more information on consolidating your pensions.
An adviser will be able to help you decide whether a Retirement Account is suitable for you. They can help to understand your attitude to risk, and advise you on the mix of investments that may best suit your retirement goals.
This will take into account factors such as your age, health and your wishes regarding provision for any dependants you may have. You can then make clear decisions based on clear choices.
We can help you find a financial adviser if you don’t already have one. Advisers will normally charge for advice.
Whatever stage of the retirement journey you’re at, get the basics before you go any further.
Find out more about our Guaranteed Income options.
Got more than one pension? Then you could think about putting them all in one place. Combining your pensions with Scottish Widows is simple and we won’t charge you for this service.