What if I become an employee?

If you start working for an employer, you should talk to your financial adviser (if you have one). If your new employer runs an occupational pension scheme, it is often in your best interests to join it. But before you join your new employer’s occupational pension scheme, you will need to think about what to do with your stakeholder or personal pension (if you have one). You should think about the following options.

• Carry on paying into your stakeholder or personal pension. You can now pay into an occupational pension scheme, a stakeholder or a personal pension (or both), and get tax relief on your contributions. But there is a limit to the amount that you can pay.
• Stop paying into your stakeholder or personal pension. If you do stop, you will probably still have to pay charges. You might even have to pay extra charges if you stop paying into the personal pension.
• Transfer your stakeholder or personal pension into the occupational pension scheme. You need to decide whether you should transfer your stakeholder or personal pension into the occupational pension scheme. You can only do this if the occupational pension scheme allows you to do this. Many personal pension schemes will charge you for this, so it is important you talk to your employer, your financial adviser and your pension scheme provider before you make a decision.

For more information, see the FSA guide to saving for retirement – reviewing your plans. You can get a copy of this guide by calling the The Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 0845 606 1234.

If you want to know more about occupational pension schemes, see Occupational pensions – Your guide (PM3) or Personal Pension Schemes (including Stakeholder Pension Schemes) – A guide for members of tax-approved schemes (IR3),for the contribution limits to occupational pensions, stakeholder pensions and personal pensions. See the directory for details about how you can get copies of these guides.