Company pensions

Cons

• If you leave a company within two years of joining the pension scheme you will only get back what you paid into the scheme, less tax as a lump sum, although this will change in the future, giving you a pension entitlement from day one of employment

• Final salary schemes are expensive to run, so many are closed, and new joiners to the company can't take part in them

For more information on Company Pensions, click on the links below

• How much can I put in?
• Can I save more for my retirement?
• How much will I get when I retire?
• What happens if I move to another company?
• Where do I find out more?

How much can I put in?
The scheme could be set up in one of two ways:

• The employer may pay all of the contributions, in which case the scheme is known as a non-contributory scheme

• The employer may ask the employees to pay some of the contributions, in which case the scheme is known as a contributory scheme. The maximum that you - as an employee - can put into a contributory pension scheme is 15 per cent of your salary. Your employer must invest something to the scheme, although there is not a set minimum or maximum amount

Can I save more for my retirement?
Yes - if you are not putting the full 15 per cent into the Company Pension, you can also put money into an additional pension. For example, if you are paying six per cent into the Company Pension scheme, then you can pay an additional nine per cent into the top-up scheme.