A pension is an investment. Its value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than was paid in
Flexible payment options
Open an Active Money Personal Pension with as little as £1. There are lots of ways to pay in:
Set up a monthly payment
Make one-off payments anytime
Transfer a pension
You can change or pause payments whenever you like. Transferring may not be right for everyone. A pension is an investment. Its value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than was paid in
The magic of tax relief
For every payment you make, you automatically get basic rate tax relief (20%).
This means every payment gets topped up by the government:
You pay in: £80
Tax relief: £20
You get: £100
If you're a higher or additional ratetax payer, you may be able to claim extra tax relief on your self-assessment.
The maximum tax relief most people can claim is 100% of their salary (up to £60,000). This is called the 'annual allowance'. Even if you're not earning, you can pay in up to £2,880 and still receive tax benefits.
Laws and tax rules may change, and tax treatment depends on personal circumstances.
Tax relief if you're self-employed
If you're self-employed, you may be able to make payments from a business account and claim them as an expense.
Limited company director? Payments count against corporation tax, saving 19-25% depending on your profits.
Please enter a payment amount to see what your plan could be worth
£217,000
at retirement
These figure are illustrative only. See important information and assumptions for details.
These figures are only illustrative
Inflation: The calculator takes inflation into account to show how much your pension might be worth in today’s money. We’ve assumed a 2% rate of inflation in our calculation.
Charges: We’ve assumed a 0.71% charge, but the actual charges you pay may be higher or lower based on the investment options you choose and how much you invest.
Monthly payments: We’ve assumed your monthly payments will increase by 3.5% each year.
Tax relief: Our calculator assumes that you are a basic rate tax payer getting 20% tax relief. Your own personal circumstances, including where you live in the UK, will have an impact on the tax you pay. Laws and tax rules may change in the future. The "Annual Allowance" limits what you may pay into your pension plan(s) each year and still benefit from tax relief. Our calculator takes the standard Annual Allowance into account but does not account for personal circumstances which may reduce your Annual Allowance, or payments you've made into other pension plans which would count towards the limit.
Investment growth: We’ve assumed an annual investment growth rate of 5%. Please remember this is just an assumption and investment growth isn’t guaranteed – investments can go down as well as up so you could get back less than you paid in.
Normal minimum pension age (NMPA) change
From 6 April 2028, the NMPA is rising to 57. So, depending on when you were born, this could impact you in different ways.
If you were born after 5 April 1973
The earliest date you can access your pension savings will be delayed by two years
If you were born after 6 April 1971 but before 6 April 1973
You’ll have a window from your 55th birthday to 5 April 2028 to access your pension savings before the NMPA increases to 57. If you choose not to take any pension savings during this period, you’ll need to wait until your 57th birthday
If you were born on or before 6 April 1971
You won’t be impacted because you’ll already have reached age 57 by 6 April 2028
