What you, your employer and the government pay

The amount you and your employer pay towards the pension depends on:

  • what type of workplace pension scheme you바카라 사이트™re in
  • whether you바카라 사이트™ve been automatically enrolled in a workplace pension or you바카라 사이트™ve joined one voluntarily (바카라 사이트˜opted in바카라 사이트™)

Example

You바카라 사이트™re in a defined contribution pension scheme. Each payday:

  • you put in £40
  • your employer puts in £30
  • you get £10 tax relief

A total of £80 goes into your pension.

Use to work out how much you and your employer will put in.

Tax relief

The government will usually add money to your workplace pension in the form of tax relief if both of the following apply:

Even if you do not pay Income Tax, you바카라 사이트™ll still get an additional payment if your pension scheme uses 바카라 사이트˜relief at source바카라 사이트™ to add money to your pension pot.

If you바카라 사이트™ve been automatically enrolled

You and your employer must pay a percentage of your earnings into your workplace pension scheme.

How much you pay and what counts as earnings depend on the pension scheme your employer has chosen. Ask your employer about your pension scheme rules.

In most automatic enrolment schemes, you바카라 사이트™ll make contributions based on your total earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax. Your total earnings include:

  • salary or wages
  • bonuses and commission
  • overtime
  • statutory sick pay
  • statutory maternity, paternity or adoption pay

Workplace pension contributions

The minimum your employer pays You pay Total minimum contribution
From April 2019 3% 5% 8%

These amounts could be higher for you or your employer because of your pension scheme rules. They바카라 사이트™re higher for most defined benefit pension schemes.

In some schemes, your employer has the option to pay in more than the legal minimum. In these schemes, you can pay in less as long as your employer puts in enough to meet the total minimum contribution.

If you바카라 사이트™ve voluntarily enrolled in a workplace pension

Your employer must contribute the minimum amount if you earn more than:

  • £520 a month
  • £120 a week
  • £480 over 4 weeks

They do not have to contribute anything if you earn these amounts or less.

How your take-home pay changes

Joining a workplace pension scheme means that your take-home income will be reduced. But this may:

  • mean you바카라 사이트™re entitled to tax credits or an increase in the amount of tax credits you get (although you may not get this until the next tax year)
  • mean you바카라 사이트™re entitled to an income-related benefit or an increase in the amount of benefit you get
  • reduce the amount of student loan repayments you need to make

Payments using salary sacrifice

You and your employer may agree to use 바카라 사이트˜salary sacrifice바카라 사이트™ (sometimes known as a 바카라 사이트˜SMART바카라 사이트™ scheme).

If you do this, you give up part of your salary and your employer pays this straight into your pension. In some cases, this will mean you and your employer pay less tax and National Insurance.

Ask your employer if they use salary sacrifice.

  1. Step 1 Check when you can retire

  2. and Check how much pension you could get

  3. Step 2 Increase your pension

    You might be able to increase the amount you get if you delay your pension.

    1. Find out about delaying your pension

    You might be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record (such as, from when you were not working or claiming benefits).

    1. Check if you can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions

    For advice about increasing your workplace or private pension, speak to a financial adviser.

  4. Step 3 Check what other financial support you could get

  5. Step 4 Decide when to retire