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FAQs for Members
Costs and charges FAQs
The government has announced that all auto enrolment pension schemes, including ours, must waive their flat fee administration charges for individual members who would have pensions savings of £100 or less in their pot after deduction of the fee. This is in line with pension legislation and aims to help prevent small amounts of pension savings (small pots) being eroded by charges.
Yes. Even if you’re a deferred member who’s stopped contributing to the Scheme, the following charges still apply.
- Monthly administration charge. This is for running the Scheme. It costs £1.75 a month or £21 a year. But we won’t take the full administration charge if it would make the value of your pension savings lower than £100.
- Investment management charge. This is for investing the money in the Scheme. It costs 0.3% of the value of your pension savings every year.
- Transaction costs. These are for buying and selling investments. We don’t charge for them separately. We factor them into the returns on the Scheme’s investments.
You can see the combined effect of the monthly administration charge, investment management charge and transaction costs over time in our costs and charges booklet.
Our costs and charges apply whether you’re:
- currently paying in to your pension savings, or
- have stopped paying in but still have pension savings in the Scheme.
Even if you’re no longer paying in to your pension savings, we’re managing and investing them. So, the costs and charges still apply.
We believe splitting the charges in this way spreads the cost fairly across all members. It also makes it easier to understand what you’re paying for your pension every year.
The amount you pay for your pension matters a lot over a lifetime of saving. Download our costs and charges booklet for examples of the effect of costs and charges on the value of your pension savings over time.
No. If you leave your employer or stop contributing to your pension, you can transfer your pension savings out to another pension provider. We won’t charge you to transfer your pension savings out.
However, it’s possible the pension provider you’re transferring to will make a charge. You should check this.
If you’re leaving a small amount of savings in the Scheme – only a few hundred pounds, for example – it may be sensible to transfer your savings out, because the charges will continue to apply. If you don’t move your money, the charges could mean that your pension savings get smaller over time, as the total charges each year could be higher than the investment returns on your pension savings.
Costs and charges explained
The amount you pay for your pension matters a lot over a lifetime of saving. To help you understand pension charges, we’ve provided examples of how pension savings can be affected by the compound effects of costs and charges in our costs and charges leaflet. You can download a copy here.
No. You can transfer savings from other pension providers into your pension savings with us free of charge, as long as the Scheme can accept the pension you’re transferring in. See more on our Transfers FAQs section.
Yes. These charges are the same for all members, whether you’re:
- an active member contributing to your pension regularly, or
- a deferred member – you’ve stopped contributing but still have pension savings in the Scheme.
We send you an annual benefit statement that explains the value of your pension savings with us, including the costs and charges that apply.
We’ve designed our charges – which are among the most cost-effective in the pensions industry – to be simple, transparent and fair.
Members of the now:pensions Trust (‘the Scheme’) pay three charges.
- Monthly administration charge. This is for running the Scheme. It costs you £1.75 a month or £21 a year. But we won’t take the full administration charge if it would make the value of your pension savings lower than £100.
- Investment management charge. This is for investing the money in the Scheme. It costs 0.3% of the value of your pension savings every year.
- Transaction costs. These are for buying and selling investments. We don’t charge for them separately. We factor them into the returns on the Scheme’s investments.
You can see the combined effect of the monthly administration charge, investment management charge, and transaction costs over time in our costs and charges booklet.
Our costs and charges apply whether you’re:
- currently paying in to your pension savings, or
- have stopped paying in but still have pension savings in the Scheme.
Even if you’re no longer paying in to your pension savings, we’re managing and investing them. So the costs and charges still apply.
We believe splitting the charges in this way spreads the cost fairly across all members. It also makes it easier to understand what you’re paying for your pension every year.
Monthly administration charge
This is the charge for running the Scheme. It costs you £1.75 each month (£21 a year), as long as the value of your pension savings is £100 or more.
Charging limit
We won’t take the full administration charge if it would make the value of your pension savings lower than £100. This helps prevent small amounts of pension savings being eaten away by administration fees.
Investment management charge
This is for investing the money in the Scheme and costs 0.3% of the value of your pension savings each year. It’s one of the lowest charges in the industry.
Here’s an idea of how this works for different amounts of pension savings (the actual amounts depend on how the investments do).
Total pension savings before investment charge | Charge in a year | Total savings after investment charge |
£500 | £1.50 | £498.50 |
£1,000 | £3 | £997 |
£2,500 | £7.50 | £2492.50 |
The amount you pay for your pension matters a lot over a lifetime of saving. Download our costs and charges booklet for more examples of the effect of costs and charges on the value of your pension savings over time.