- Investment growth of your savings in your pension is not taxed
- In a personal pension such as the Fidelity SIPP, we can claim 20% tax relief from the Government and add it to the money you save
- You can save up to £60,000* a year in your pension and receive tax relief so long as it’s not more than you earned (or to £3,600 if you have no earnings).
- You can claim money off your tax bill if you pay more than the basic rate of income tax.
- From the age of 55 (57 from 2028) you can normally take a tax-free lump sum worth up to 25% of your pension, as long as this amount is not higher than your remaining lump sum allowance.
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In this section
Saving for retirement in your 40s
Important information - the value of investments can go down as well as up so you may not get back what you invest. Eligibility to invest in a SIPP and tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. You cannot normally access money in a SIPP until age 55 (57 from 2028). It’s important to understand that pension transfers are a complex area and may not be suitable for everyone.
You’ve probably been saving for a while now and it's likely you've accumulated a number of employer pension pots over the years. This can be a good time to take stock of what you have, and make the most of the opportunity still open to you. If you haven’t really given a thought to retirement yet, there’s still time to make a big difference to your pension.
Planning your retirement
The first step is to figure out what you might need in retirement, and what your current pensions might provide.
How much will you need?
Get an indication of the annual income you may need in retirement to help you work out how much you need to save.
Retirement calculatorAre you saving enough?
Answer five questions and we’ll show you whether you’re on the right track to saving enough to achieve your retirement goals.
Pension calculatorWhat you can do now
Maximise your employer contributions
If your employer offers a workplace pension, then you should consider contributing whatever is required to get the maximum employer contribution.
Set up a regular savings plan
If you are self-employed or simply want to pay more, then you can pay in and get tax relief on anything up to the annual limit of £60,000* or 100% of your earnings if that’s lower.
If you have disposable income then it can make sense to increase your regular contributions to take advantage of the government’s tax relief.
Make a one-off payment
If you’re not on track to save the annual limit of £60,000* (or 100% of your earnings if lower or to £3,600 if you have no earnings) then you can make a payment whenever you like and take advantage of the tax-relief.
Regularly review your payments
As your circumstances change, you can easily increase, stop or restart your contributions any time to suit you.
Keep pace with your salary increases
Any time you get a pay rise, think about increasing your pension contributions by the same percentage.
Use your carry forward allowance
The carry forward allowance allows you to make use of unused annual allowance from the three previous tax years. This means you may be able to contribute more than your annual allowance to your pension pot this tax year (until 5th April) and still benefit from tax relief.
To use carry forward, you must make the maximum tax relievable contribution in the current tax year* and then you can use unused annual allowances from the three previous tax years (provided you were a member of a pension scheme), starting with the tax year three years ago.
You can’t receive tax relief on contributions in excess of your earnings in a tax year and you only receive higher rate tax relief to the extent that you have paid it. Please read our Carry Forward guide for more information.
Bring your pensions together
As you’re likely to have already had a number of jobs you could easily end up with a dozen or more pensions by the time you retire. Tracking multiple pensions through multiple providers is tricky and time consuming, so why not develop the habit of bringing them together as you go.
Bringing your pensions together means you have just one company to deal with for every aspect of your income. Just be sure that if you transfer your pensions to one company you check that you won't lose valuable benefits, what charges apply and that you have access to all the income options you need.
Important information - It’s important to understand that pension transfers are a complex area and may not be suitable for everyone. Before going ahead with a pension transfer, we strongly recommend that you undertake a full comparison of the benefits, charges and features offered. To find out what else you should consider before transferring, please read our transfer factsheet. If you are in any doubt whether or not a pension transfer is suitable for your circumstances we strongly recommend that you speak to a Fidelity adviser or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.
Learn how investing can boost your chances
When it comes to choosing which investments to include in your SIPP, we’ve plenty of online tools and guidance to help you decide. We’ve also got a range of investment guides and videos to help you make the most of your money.
The tax benefits of a pension
By how much can you boost your retirement savings?
BASIC RATE TAXPAYERS | 40% RATE TAXPAYERS | 45% RATE TAXPAYERS | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
You Pay | Government adds | Total in your SIPP | Claim back up to an extra | Effective cost as little as | Claim back up to an extra | Effective cost as little as |
£8,000 | £2,000 | £10,000 | £2,000 | £6,000 | £2,500 | £5,500 |
£32,000 | £8,000 | £40,000 | £8,000 | £24,000 | £10,000 | £22,000 |
£80,000 | - | - | £20,000 | £60,000 | £25,000 | £55,000 |
£104,000 | - | - | £26,000 | £78,000 | £32,500 | £71,500 |
These examples are not tailored to individual circumstances and are based on the rates of tax relief for residents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Rates of tax relief for Scottish Residents differ to the rest of the UK.
Remember, to receive tax relief, your personal contributions can’t be any higher than your earnings. The rate at which you can receive tax relief depends on the rate of Income Tax that is applied to your earnings, which will vary depending on the amount you earn and where you are resident for tax purposes.
Tax treatment and eligibility to invest in a pension depend on personal circumstances. All tax rules may change in the future.
Note: your total contribution amount is not the amount you pay in, though in some cases it will be, but rather this is the amount that will be in the pension after the contribution has been made and basic rate tax relief has been added.
An essential guide to saving for retirement
Did you know a single person will need about £41,300 a year for a comfortable retirement? With the new State Pension paying a maximum of £11,502.40 per year from April 2024, there’s clearly a gap.
Our guide provides you all the information you need to make sure you’re ready for the future you want.
Source: Pension and Lifetime Savings Association - UK Retirement Living Standards in 2023.
Thinking of paying a large contribution?
If you have income of £200,000 or more (including pension contributions from an employer), you need to be aware of the tapered annual allowance - please read our guide for more information.
Thinking of transferring?
To find out what you should consider first, please read our Fidelity SIPP transfer guide.
What next?
If you want to open a new pension or transfer an existing pension to Fidelity, then take a look at our Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). It’s a flexible, tax-efficient and easy-to-manage pension designed to help you to reach your pension goals.
Open a pension
- A tax-efficient way to invest for your retirement (subject to limits)*
- Benefit from 20% government tax relief, added to your SIPP account
- If you pay Income Tax at higher than the basic rate, you may be able to claim even more tax relief through your tax return
- Employers can also contribute. Payments from a limited company are considered employer contributions
Transfer a pension
- It’s easy to submit your transfer request online, and depending on your current pension provider your transfer could be complete in ten business days.
- We’ll contact your providers and arrange for your investments (or cash) to be brought into your Fidelity account
- We’ll pay any exit fee (up to £500 per person, T&Cs apply**) that your current provider may charge you
- If you apply to transfer a SIPP through our website, you can track your transfer's progress using our transfer tracking tool.
*Tax relief is only available on the lower of the annual allowance (currently £60,000) or 100% of your earnings in a given tax year (or to £3,600 if you have no earnings). If you exceed your annual allowance you may have a tax charge to pay unless you have unused allowance you can carry forward. If you have earnings of £200,000 or more, the amount you can pay in and receive tax relief on could be ' tapered' down to £10,000. Alternatively, if you’ve already taken taxable income from your pension pot, your annual allowance may be £10,000 (known as the money purchase annual allowance) and you will not be able to use carry forward to contribute to a SIPP.
For more information on tax relief and all the allowances please visit our pension allowances page.
Important information - It’s important to understand that pension transfers are a complex area and may not be suitable for everyone. Before going ahead with a pension transfer, we strongly recommend that you undertake a full comparison of the benefits, charges and features offered. To find out what else you should consider before transferring, please read our transfer factsheet. If you are in any doubt whether or not a pension transfer is suitable for your circumstances we strongly recommend that you speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.
Look after future you, today. Plus get cashback!
If you’ve got pensions spread across different providers, bringing them together with Fidelity could help you take control and get your money working harder. Plus get £500 to £2,500 cashback. Exclusions, T&Cs apply.
Go to offerCash Back Offer – terms and conditions
This Cash Back Offer (the “Offer”) is available when you apply to transfer your pension(s), ISAs or other investment account assets between 2nd December 2024 and midnight on 1st April 2025.
- The promoter of this offer is Financial Administration Services Limited (“Fidelity”), Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.
- Subject to section 5, the Offer is available to anyone who completes a transfer of their assets from other providers to Fidelity Personal Investing. This offer is not open to those that transfer via an adviser or intermediary. To transfer assets, you must submit a correctly completed transfer application form online or by paper by 1 April 2025.
- Cash Back will be paid in the amounts noted in the table in section 9. If you transfer less than £50,000 you will not receive any Cash Back. The minimum transfer value for all products is £100. However, if you are transferring a pension from another provider and you’re immediately going to start taking money from it, known as pension drawdown, the minimum transfer value is £50,000.
- The following types of transfer will qualify for the Offer:
a. Cash transfer within ISAs and pension products – If you transfer in cash within ISAs and pensions, the provider you are transferring from will sell your investments and send the proceeds directly to us. We will hold them as cash within your account until you decide what you would like to invest in.
b. Re-registration – With this type of transfer, you can keep the same investments as long as they're available on our platform. Where required, we will work with your existing provider to convert your units into a share class we can support before transferring them to us. Please note that a further conversion may be required to move you into the cheapest available share class on our platform. If a cheaper share class is available, we will also convert any existing holdings of that share class in your account. During this time, you will not be out of the market, and you may temporarily be converted into a share class with higher charges to facilitate the transfer. The share class conversion activity might take a few days and you will probably have a different number of units in the fund after you move as the prices of different share classes of the same fund are normally different.
If you hold an investment in a pension or ISA that is not available through our platform or is otherwise unable to be re-registered* it will be moved to us as a cash transfer (see above). Any investments held outside of a pension or ISA that cannot be re-registered will not be transferred to us. They will remain with the previous provider and will not count towards your total transfer value for the Offer. A re-registration does not count as a “disposal” for capital gains tax purposes, even if we switch your investment into a different share class. Please note that the minimum Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) re-registration value is £100.
*Re-registration is not available for some products on the Fidelity Investment Platform. For example, a number of offshore funds cannot be re-registered. You can check what assets are available on our platform
here - This Offer excludes:
a. transfers of assets held in a product/account provided or administered by any company within Fidelity’s group of companies including, without limitation, certain legacy products such as the Fidelity Personal Pension and Fidelity Adviser Solutions SIPP provided by Standard Life, and the EBS SIPP;
b. transfer of shares from Fidelity Stock Plan Services;
c. transfers of assets currently held through Fidelity Adviser Solutions (formerly FundsNetwork);
d. transfers of any defined contribution pension scheme investments held with, or in relation to, a current employer through, or administered by, a Fidelity group company;
e. transfers of any defined benefit, safeguarded benefit or otherwise guaranteed pensions;
f. transfers which are linked to an adviser or intermediary;
g. transfer of Junior SIPPs, Junior ISAs, or Lifetime ISAs; and
h. the lodgement of certificated shares - The Offer will also not apply to assets that are currently held in a product/account provided or administered by any company within Fidelity’s group of companies which are transferred to another provider and then moved to Fidelity Personal Investing.
- Any other new investments, subject to the exclusions in paragraphs 5 and 6, will not qualify for the Offer.
- Any transferred assets will be subject to the applicable client terms for the product your assets have been transferred to.
- The amount of your Cash Back payment will be determined by reference to the “Total Transfer Value” as set out in the table below. This is based on the sum of all transfers applied for during the Offer period and will be calculated as at the date of completion of the transfer of your eligible assets (“Transfer Date”). If you transfer more than one product the Transfer Date will be the date when all the transfers have been completed.
Total Transfer Value
Cash Back Amount
£50,000 - £74,999
£500
£75,000 - £99,999
£750
£100,000 - £249,999
£1,000
£250,000 - £499,999
£1,250
£500,000 - £749,999
£1,500
£750,000 - £999,999
£1,750
£1,000,000 or over
£2,500
- Cash Back payments will be paid to your Cash Management Account (CMA) within 90 days following closure of the Offer (1 April 2025). If the transfer of all of your eligible assets has not completed by then, we will pay within 90 days of your Transfer Date. The CMA is a separate account in your name that helps manage cash. The Cash Back can be kept in your CMA for fee collection, withdrawn or moved into whichever Fidelity Personal Investing account you choose. If moved into an ISA or SIPP, it will count towards your annual allowance.
- We ask that the assets you move to us as part of this Offer be held with us for at least 18 months after your Transfer Date and must not be linked to any adviser or intermediary other than a Fidelity adviser during this period. If you transfer or re-register your assets to another provider within this 18-month period, Fidelity reserves the right to reclaim any Cash Back payment that was made to you as part of this Offer. For the avoidance doubt, if during this period you link to a Fidelity adviser and your assets are transferred to Fidelity Adviser Solutions (formerly FundsNetwork) this does not constitute a transfer to another provider. Fidelity may reclaim any Cash Back by withholding an amount prior to transferring or re-registering your assets to another provider. We will not reclaim any Cash Back from assets within a SIPP, other pension or ISA. Withdrawals from your account/s or income payment will not count as transfers for the purposes of this condition and will not result in our reclaiming your Cash Back payment.
We promote offers on a regular basis. However, it is important that you take enough time to decide whether transferring your investment(s) to us is right for you. If you need more time and wish to qualify for an offer, please wait until the next offer period.
Issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Fidelity, Fidelity International, the Fidelity International logo and the F symbol are trademarks of FIL Limited.
UKM1124/388536/CSO12452/010425
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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment please speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.
Exit fees terms and conditions
In order to request exit fees re-imbursement you will be required to complete an exit fees re-imbursement form which you can download here, or request over the phone by calling us on 0333 300 3351.
Terms and conditions for re-imbursement of exit fees
Fidelity will reimburse the exit/redemption fees charged to a customer by their former provider/s when they move their investments (minimum of £1,000) to Fidelity, up to a maximum amount of £500 per customer.
An exit fee is an administration charge which is imposed by the former provider and arises directly as a result of processing the transfer or re-registration of the customer’s investments to Fidelity. Fidelity will not reimburse the customer for any loss of investment returns, loss of interest, dealing charges, penalties for transferring investments before their maturity dates or any other charges associated with your transfer or re-registration.
Where a re-registration or transfer is not possible and the customer chooses to sell their investments held through another provider and subsequently make new investment/s (minimum £10,000) through Fidelity, Fidelity will cover any account closure fees charged by the customer’s former provider (excluding any dealing charges) of up to £500 per customer. Fidelity will not cover any bid-offer spreads or any capital gains tax liability arising as a result of these transactions.
Exit and account closure fees reimbursement must be claimed within a 6 month period from date of transfer of the customer’s investments to Fidelity. Exit fees will be reimbursed for transfers and re-registrations and account closure fees will be reimbursed provided the conditions above are met. Products included: ISAs, PEPs, Unit Trusts, OEICs, SICAVs, Fidelity Personal Pension, EBS SIPP and the Fidelity SIPP. Products excluded: ShareNetwork.
To qualify for the reimbursement, the fees from the customer’s former provider must have been triggered as a direct result of the transfer or re-registration to Fidelity, or the closure of an account where the customer has subsequently (within 6 months) invested at least £10,000 through Fidelity. If the customer is transferring investments to more than one provider from their former provider at the same time, Fidelity will only reimburse the fees which are incurred as a result of direct transfer or re-registration to Fidelity. Other fees or charges unconnected with the transfer will not be reimbursed.
The completed Exit Fee Reimbursement Form and documentary evidence of the charge will need to be provided in order for the exit fees to be reimbursed to the customer. To claim the reimbursement of any account closure fees, documentary evidence of the closure fee levied will need to be provided to Fidelity, along with confirmation that a minimum of £10,000 has been invested with Fidelity within 6 months of incurring such closure fee.
The documentary evidence referred to above, must be either a copy of the charge confirmation letter from the former provider or a statement showing the charge being deducted.
Payment will be made to the customer by BACS when a bank mandate is held on the account. Alternatively, payment will be made by cheque.
Open SIPP
You will need:
- Your National Insurance number
- Debit card details (for a single payment)
- Bank or building society details (if you’re planning on setting up a regular savings plan)
- Your annual allowance (if you are over 55)
Existing customer
If you already have a Fidelity account, log in here to open your SIPP.
New customer
If you're new to Fidelity, you can open your account here.
Open my SIPP
Exit fees terms and conditions
In order to request exit fees re-imbursement you will be required to complete an exit fees re-imbursement form which you can download by clicking here, or request over the phone by calling us on 0333 300 3351.
Terms and conditions for re-imbursement of exit fees
This offer does not apply to any investments linked to an Adviser / Intermediary or third party.
Fidelity will reimburse the exit/redemption fees charged to a customer by their former provider/s when they move their investments (minimum of £100) to Fidelity Personal Investing, up to a maximum amount of £500 per customer.
An exit fee is an administration charge which is imposed by the former provider and arises directly as a result of processing the transfer or re-registration of the customer’s investments to Fidelity. Fidelity will not reimburse the customer for any loss of investment returns, loss of interest, dealing charges, penalties for transferring investments before their maturity dates or any other charges associated with your transfer or re-registration.
Where a re-registration or transfer is not possible and the customer chooses to sell their investments held through another provider and subsequently make new investment/s (minimum £10,000) through Fidelity Personal Investing, Fidelity will cover any account closure fees charged by the customer’s former provider (excluding any dealing charges) of up to £500 per customer. Fidelity will not cover any bid-offer spreads or any capital gains tax liability arising as a result of these transactions.
Exit and account closure fees reimbursement must be claimed within a 6 month period from date of transfer of the customer’s investments to Fidelity. Exit fees will be reimbursed for transfers and re-registrations and account closure fees will be reimbursed provided the conditions above are met. Products included: ISAs, Investment Accounts, EBS SIPP, Fidelity Personal Pension, Fidelity SIPP, Unit Trusts, OEICs, SICAVs, Exchange Traded Funds, Investment Trusts and Shares.
To qualify for the reimbursement, the fees from the customer’s former provider must have been triggered as a direct result of the transfer or re-registration to Fidelity Personal Investing, or the closure of an account where the customer has subsequently (within 6 months) invested at least £10,000 through Fidelity Personal Investing. If the customer is transferring investments to more than one provider from their former provider at the same time, Fidelity will only reimburse the fees which are incurred as a result of direct transfer or re-registration to Fidelity. Other fees or charges unconnected with the transfer will not be reimbursed.
The completed Exit Fee Reimbursement Form and documentary evidence of the charge will need to be provided in order for the exit fees to be reimbursed to the customer. To claim the reimbursement of any account closure fees, documentary evidence of the closure fee levied will need to be provided to Fidelity, along with confirmation that a minimum of £10,000 has been invested with Fidelity within 6 months of incurring such closure fee.
The documentary evidence referred to above, must be either a copy of the charge confirmation letter from the former provider or a statement showing the charge being deducted.
Payment will be made to the customer by BACS when a bank mandate is held on the account. Alternatively, payment will be made by cheque.
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Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.