A Personal Pension is the main type of plan that an individual is likely to use to build up a pension fund that can be accessed at retirement to provide benefits. They are available to anyone from age 0 to 75 who resides in the UK, whether employed, self-employed or indeed unemployed. All personal contributions attract tax-relief at the individual’s highest rate of tax and contributions can also be made by an employer.
Your contributions will be invested in the funds of your choosing from those offered by the provider, which will vary both in number and type. They will cover all investment types from cash to gilts, property, bonds and equity, UK and overseas. The investment risk levels vary between these funds and must be given careful consideration.
As well as tax relief on the contributions pension plans benefit from the tax treatment within the plan itself resulting in virtually no tax being paid on the investment growth.