FAQs

If you’re under the age of 75 and resident in the UK, you will normally be eligible for a Retirement Account.

If you’re resident elsewhere, you still may be able to take out a Retirement Account depending on your tax status and country of residence.

You can pay a minimum of £200 a month (£2,400 annually) or make a one-off payment of at least £10,000 (after any tax relief has been added),

While there’s no upper limit set on how much you can contribute to a Retirement Account, we can’t accept contributions paid by you, or by another individual on your behalf, that don’t qualify for tax relief. Tax relief is available on contributions which don’t exceed 100% of your relevant UK earnings, or £3,600 if higher, in each tax year.

If your total contributions to all your pension arrangements exceeds the Government’s Annual Allowance in any year, you’ll normally be liable for a tax charge on the excess.

Yes, the Retirement Account can allow you to consolidate your existing pension savings into one policy. You’re able to hold protected rights and non-protected rights in the same Retirement Account.

You should seek professional financial advice before making any decision to transfer funds from an existing pension plan. Transferring may mean giving up valuable benefits or guarantees.

The Retirement Account offers the following investment options:

• Scottish Widows’ Pension Funds
• Fund Supermarket
• Discretionary Fund Management
• Commercial Property

We also offer a facility – unique to the Retirement Account – known as the Control Account. The Control Account acts as a clearing and transactional account. Positive balances held within the Control Account will receive ‘positive balance adjustments’ which are calculated daily and added each month. The adjustments are currently calculated at a rate equivalent to Bank of England base rate.

We also offer a facility – unique to the Retirement Account – known as the Control Account. The Control Account acts as a clearing and transactional account. Positive balances held within the Control Account will receive ‘positive balance adjustments’ which are calculated daily and added each month. The adjustments are currently calculated at a rate equivalent to Bank of England bank base rate.

No. The Retirement Account has no such investment bias. You’re able to invest the value of your account in any of the options we make available.

We’ve aimed to make the charges for our Retirement Account are clear and comprehensive. We’ve done this by unbundling them to show you exactly where your money is going and why.

The Retirement Account has three types of charge:

• Service Charge – this is charged by Scottish Widows, and is for the set up and ongoing administration of your Retirement Account.
• Investment Charge – this is the cost of each investment, including purchase and sale costs, management charges and other investment-related charges. Investment charges differ depending on the investments selected.
• Adviser Payment Charge – this is the cost of advice and any other related services you agree with your financial adviser.

The Service Charge is tiered, with lower charge rates applying to higher Account values. If the value of your Account increases from one tier to another, the Service Charge rate will reduce. However, if the value of your Account falls from one tier to a lower tier, the rate will increase.

Your financial adviser will be able to explain more about the charges applying to the Retirement Account.

You should discuss your pension needs with your financial adviser. If you don’t have an adviser, you can find one here.

We aim to make it easy for you to keep track of your pension savings by providing you with online access. You’ll be able to access your Retirement Account online with a unique ID and password. This will be provided once your Retirement Account has been set up.

You can decide to start taking benefits from your Retirement Account at any time between the ages of 55 (50 until 6 April 2010) and 75, even if you’re still working.

You can take benefits by:

• moving (‘designating’) part or all of the value of your Account from Retirement Planning to Retirement Income.
• using the value of your Account to buy one or more annuities, from us or another annuity provider.

You can normally take part of the value of your Account as a tax free cash sum.

By age 75, you must use the value of your Account to buy an annuity.

For further details of the retirement benefits available, please refer to the Key Features of the Retirement Account.

For further details on annuities please visit our annuities section.

The value of your Account will be used to provide benefits for your dependents and/or beneficiaries. The benefits can include lump sum payments and/or dependant’s income.

Normally no inheritance tax is payable. However, a Lifetime Allowance charge could apply to any lump sum death benefits paid from Retirement Planning which exceed the Lifetime Allowance. Lump sum death benefits from Retirement Income will be paid less a 35% tax charge, while any dependant’s income will be treated as earned income and will be taxed in payment.

For further details of the death benefits, please refer to the Key Features of the Retirement Account.

You can only apply for a Retirement Account through a Financial Adviser, who will be able to help you decide whether a Retirement Account is suitable for you. 

Your Adviser can also help to define your attitude to risk and advise you on the mix of investments that may best suit your retirement goals.