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Ready-Made Pension
Boost your pension savings this tax year with our expertly managed Ready-Made Pension.
Apply now
Key benefits
Want to bring your old pensions together?
Combining them into 1 pot could make things easier to manage and potentially help reduce overall fees.
New to pensions?
It’s never too early to start thinking about your retirement. You don’t need to be an expert, leave the hard work up to our experts at Scottish Widows.
Already maximised your employer pension?
If you’ve maximised your employer contributions and benefits, topping up into a personal pension could help you to boost your retirement pot.
Are you self employed?
If you don’t have access to a company pension scheme, that doesn’t mean you can’t start planning for your retirement and we’re here to help.
Tax relief benefits
For every £80 you put into your pension, HMRC will usually add an extra £20. If you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you could also benefit from extra tax relief through self-assessment. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change.
Make investing in your future easier with a Ready-Made Pension
Here are some of the ways to help you save in a way that works for you.
Our funds’ past performance
Here’s how the funds have performed over the last 5 years. Past performance isn’t a guarantee of future returns, but it can help you see how the funds have behaved through different market conditions.
Performance shown includes ongoing charges and transaction costs but excludes the 0.3% account fee.
How we invest your Ready-Made Pension
We want to make it easy to save for your retirement. That’s why we do the hard work and invest for you through our partners, Scottish Widows.
We invest your pension based on the age at which you’re planning to retire.
If you’re years away from retiring, we invest to give you the best chance of growth. As you approach retirement, we move your portfolio into lower-risk investments to help protect your pension value.
For more information, please see the Ready-Made Pension Investment guide (PDF, 173 KB).
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Remember that the data in this table refers to the past. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
funds' performance by year table Date
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
Date
30 December 2024 to 30 December 2025
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
8.3%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
16.2%
Date
30 December 2023 to 30 December 2024
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
5.9%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
12.6%
Date
30 December 2022 to 30 December 2023
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
8.6%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
11.0%
Date
30 December 2021 to 30 December 2022
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
-12.3%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
-7.0%
Date
30 December 2020 to 30 December 2021
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
3.5%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
12.5%
Fees and charges
Our fees are clear and straightforward, making it easier to plan for your future.
You’ll need to pay an annual account fee and investment charge. What you pay will depend on how much you invest.
- Annual account fee of 0.30% (or a minimum of £5 a month)
- Ongoing investment charges of 0.1%
We won’t charge you for pension transfers – whether you’re transferring in or out. And we also don’t charge you to top up or drawdown your pension.
What your pension pot might look like
This Pension illustration document (PDF, 271 KB) gives an example of what happens when investing in a Ready-Made Pension over time. It shows any potential growth of a pension, starting from when you open your account, until you reach retirement.
Before you apply
Make sure you've read the key features document (PDF, 157KB) and terms and conditions (PDF, 261KB).
To apply, you must:
- be age 18 to under 75
- be a UK resident and UK taxpayer
- not be a US person
- pay a minimum payment of £150 a month or £5000 one-off (both include tax relief) or transfer pensions with a combined value of at least £10,000.
If you’re transferring, make sure any old pensions:
- are from a UK-based provider
- have not already entered into drawdown. For example, you’ve not taken an income or a tax-free lump sum from them
- don’t have any valuable features or guarantees that you’d potentially lose upon transferring (see FAQs).
You’ll need your National Insurance number and, if transferring, the provider’s name, policy number and value of each pension.
Apply for a Ready-Made Pension
Learn more about our Ready-Made Pension
What is it?
Who is it for?
How do I apply?
What are the benefits?
Let’s look at the details
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No, you can transfer one or more older pensions, as long as the total initial value is over £10,000. This will open your Ready-Made Pension and once this is set up, you can add more pensions to it anytime in the future.
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Please note that you can’t transfer every type of pension.
We can’t accept:
Pensions with guarantees
This is a pension with a Guaranteed Annuity Rate. It means you could get a higher income than you’d get at today’s rates when you retire.
Or
Guaranteed Minimum Pension or Section 9(2B) rights
These may provide you with a guaranteed income when you retire. You’re not likely to match this amount when transferring. Please check with your current provider, as they should have more details on this.
Or
Guaranteed Conversion Option:
This allows you to convert your pension into a fund, which gives you access to a wider, more flexible range of benefit options. At today’s rates, it’s unlikely that this fund will be worth as much as your original pension.
Pensions with defined benefits
Also known as final salary benefits, this is where you receive guaranteed pension income based on your salary, rather than how much you’ve paid in. Your current provider should have more details on this.
Workplace pension
A pension that you and an employer still pay into.
Other reasons you can’t transfer
Your pension may be with a provider outside of the UK. It could be subject to a pension sharing or earmarking order following a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. Or it has been, or will be, set up using disqualifying pension credits. This is when the pension sharing order is applied to a pension already in payment or income drawdown.
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To see what you may get back from your pension, we’ll provide an example illustration when you apply. These figures are only examples and aren’t guaranteed – they’re not minimum or maximum amounts.
We’ll send you a personalised illustration when your Ready-Made Pension is set up.
Use our pension calculator as a guide to see what your retirement income could be. You can also see how making changes to your contributions could make a difference to your overall pension pot.
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The Lifetime Allowance (LTA) limit for personal pensions was abolished on 6 April 2024. It was replaced by the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA), which is £268,275, and the Lump Sum Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA), which is £1,073,100. The total number of tax-free lump sums, which can be paid from any pensions you have, is limited by these new allowances.
There’s no limit to how much you can save into a pension throughout your lifetime. But there is an annual maximum called the ‘annual allowance’.
You may still contribute the equivalent of 100% of your annual earnings each year. Or up to a maximum of £60,000 (whichever is lower). You can also carry forward up to three previous tax years’ worth of unused allowances.
Find more information about the Lump Sum Allowance at gov.uk.
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One of the benefits of investing into a pension is tax relief. If the basic rate of tax is 20%, for every £80 you pay in, the government will top this up with an extra £20.
If you’ve told us you’re eligible, we’ll add basic rate tax relief automatically to any regular or one-off contributions you make into to your Ready-Made Pension. If you’re a higher rate taxpayer, you can claim additional tax relief through your self-assessment tax return.
How much you can pay in without a tax charge will depend on your circumstances.
- You can normally pay up to £60,000 (the Annual Allowance) into your pensions each tax year without paying a tax charge (or up to 100% of your taxable yearly income if less).
- If you’re not working and don’t have any income, you can still pay in £3,600 each tax year (you pay in £2,880, with £720 tax relief).
- If you’re a high earner, a lower limit could apply known as Tapered Annual Allowance. See further information at www.gov.uk.
- If you’ve taken out a taxable cash sum or flexible income, the amount you can contribute without paying a tax charge is limited to £10,000 (the Money Purchase Annual Allowance).
Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances. Your circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.
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If you would like financial advice, you could speak to an Independent Financial Adviser. Unbiased and Vouchedfor will let you find a local adviser based on your requirements. There will be a charge for this service.
You get free help and guidance through Pension Wise. If you’re over 50, you’ll also benefit from a free 60-minute appointment.
Alternatively, our partners Schroders Personal Wealth could also help. They provide personalised advice on a range of different products and services. It all starts with a free, no obligation chat, then a financial plan that’s tailored to you. To be eligible, you’ll have at least £100,000 in sole or joint savings, investments or personal pensions, or sole income of at least £100,000. Fees and charges may apply.
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You may forget about a pension you already have. This could impact how much you can save for retirement.
For further support, you can go to The Pension Tracing Service, which is operated by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Ready-Made Pensions are provided by Embark Investment Services Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales (company number 09955930) with its registered office at 33 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1HZ. Embark Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Register number 737356).
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