Make contributions to your Royal London pension plan
We aim to make saving into your pension as easy and flexible as possible. Here’s a quick summary of the different contributions you can make.
Remember, there are limits on the amount you can invest in pension plans, and on the maximum value of pension savings you can build up without being subject to a tax charge.
Making regular contributions to your pension
You and/or your employer can make regular contributions to your pension.
If you have a personal pension
If you’re saving into our personal pension, Pension Portfolio, your contributions will be made from your net salary by direct debit.
If both you and your employer want to contribute to your personal pension, we’ll need to set up two separate plans because we can only accept one direct debit per plan. Alternatively, your employer can make your contribution along with theirs as part of the same direct debit.
If you have a workplace pension
If you’re saving into your employer’s workplace pension, your contributions will be paid to us by your employer.
Contributions will be made from your net salary or by using salary exchange. If you’re not sure, your employer can tell you which one applies to you.
Tax rules and contributions
Tax rules depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
Contributions made from your net salary
Your contributions are taken from your salary after tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) have been paid. Pension contributions benefit from tax relief. This means that for every 80 pence you put into a pension, you'll get tax relief from the government to increase it to £1. Your employer will also contribute and this can help to boost your pension savings.
You’ll receive tax relief on all regular contributions you make to your plan up to a maximum of £3,600 a year or 100% of your earnings, whichever is greater.
Your regular contributions are usually paid monthly and can be paid as a percentage of your salary or as a fixed amount.
Contributions made using salary exchange
Salary exchange is an agreement between you and your employer where you voluntarily exchange part of your gross salary in return for employer contributions into your pension.
You give up part of your salary for a non-cash benefit, in this case an additional employer pension contribution. As your salary is reduced, you pay less tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC). Your employer will also contribute and this can help to boost your pension savings.
Salary exchange may not be suitable for everyone, and it could affect your entitlement to other benefits such as statutory sick pay. You should speak to your employer for more information. If you’re not sure whether salary exchange is right for you, you should speak to a financial adviser.
Minimum contributions for workplace pensions
There's a total minimum contribution that needs to be made to your workplace pension. Your employer must contribute at least part of this. If your employer contributes less than the total minimum amount, you’ll have to make up the difference.
Your employer will confirm the contributions you’ll have to make and will tell you if that amount will change. To find out more about the minimum contributions for your plan, speak to your employer.
Making single contributions to your pension
You can make a single contribution into your plan at any time. So if you receive a bonus from work, or find yourself with spare money, you could save a lump sum into your plan to help give your pension savings a boost.
You’ll receive tax relief on all single contributions you make to your plan up to a maximum of £3,600 a year or 100% of your earnings, whichever is greater.
Remember, the value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you might not get back the amount invested.
Make a single contribution using our online form
You can use our online form to make a one-off payment into your plan if you have one of the following plans:
- Retirement Solutions Group Personal Pension Plan;
- Retirement Solutions Group Stakeholder Pension Plan;
If you're not sure which type you have, you can find out in the Plan booklet we sent you when you joined your plan. If your plan isn't listed above, please visit our Contact us section to speak to one of our customer service teams.
Transfer payments into your pension from other pension plans
You may be able to transfer pension savings from other pension plans. This could make it easier for you to keep track of them.
Transfer payments from one pension plan to another don’t receive tax relief. Transferring may not be in your best interests as you could lose valuable benefits which can’t be replaced. You should speak to a financial adviser before you make a decision.
Stay on track for the retirement you want
You should regularly review your plan and contributions to help you stay on track. If you can afford to, you might want to think about increasing your contributions.
Changing your regular pension contributions
You can increase, decrease, stop and restart your contributions at any time. But remember that any changes to your contributions will affect your pension savings.
If you want to change the contributions into your personal pension, you should speak to a financial adviser.
If you want to change the contributions into your employer’s workplace pension, you should speak to your employer. They’ll tell you what changes you can make and how to make them.