How do I pay into a personal pension scheme?

With most personal pensions, you agree to make regular payments, usually once a month, over a fixed period of time (in some cases, 30 years or more). These personal pensions are called ‘regular premium pension plans’ and they could be suitable if you can pay into them regularly over the years.

With some pension schemes, you can change the amount of your payments and how often you pay them. Some personal pension schemes will let you change what you pay without charging you any extra. You should be careful, however, as you may have to pay extra charges to your pension provider.

You can also get single premium personal pensions that allow you to pay in a single lump sum, or a series of lump sums. Charges for these personal pensions may be lower.

You usually get tax relief on any payments you make, up to a set limit. If you want to know more about personal pensions and tax, please see Personal Pension Schemes (including Stakeholder Pension Schemes) – A guide for members of tax-approved schemes (IR3). Click here for details about how you can get a copy of this leaflet.

Even if you are not working, you can pay into either a personal pension or a stakeholder pension and still get tax relief.

You can also make contributions to a personal pension or a stakeholder pension for children.