Personal Pensions
A personal pension is a great way of saving for your retirement. Throughout your life you can make regular contributions into your pension fund which is then invested so that you can increase the size of your pension pot before you retire. Upon your retirement, you have a variety of different options concerning how you withdraw your pension, either in the form of regular income or as a lump sum.
Anyone can invest in a personal pension and it is possible to invest in a pension on behalf of a child and there is no limit to how much you can save into your pension scheme. Your employer can also may payments into your pension.
A personal pension scheme will provide one or more of the following benefits:
- an income during retirement, which can start from age 55. You have a number of options of how to take this pension money.
- a pension payable to your widow, widower, civil partner or someone else who depends on you
- a tax-free lump sum, payable if you die before retirement, to your widow, widower, civil partner or someone else who depends on you.
If you're a UK taxpayer aged under 75, you can put as much of your yearly earnings as you want into a pension scheme up to a limit of £40,000 (in the tax year 2015/16) and you won’t have to pay tax on any of the contributions. You can still put more money into your pension scheme above this limit but it may be taxed at 40% or more.
If you're not earning, you can get tax relief on a limited amount on contributions up to £3600 per year. If you're a higher rate tax payer you can claim tax relief of 40% on your pension contributions.
If you're an additional rate tax payer you can claim tax relief of 45% on your pension contributions.
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