Are there other ways to save for retirement?

This section of workSMART deals with pensions, but of course there are other ways of saving or investing that can be used to put aside cash for when you retire.

Many of these other options mean that you are not tying up your money in the way it is in a pension scheme. This means you can call on it for an emergency or other ‘rainy day’. It’s wise to build up some emergency funds - say two to three months pay - before contributing to a pension.

One advantage of pensions savings is that if you are a tax payer then you will get tax rebates that are paid into your pension fund.

But other tax breaks are available for savings schemes. Probably the best known are Individual Savings Accounts or ISAs. You can use ISAs to build up savings in stocks and shares or in a traditional interest paying savings account.

You can find out more about ISAs (and other savings) on the FSA website here.

Tax help with ISAs is in addition to tax help with pension contributions. So you can do both (if you can afford it!)

If you now want more details about all these pensions options, you should check out the Planning your pension section of workSMART.