This part of workSMART answers the commonest questions asked about pensions, particularly for those trying to get to grips with their pension prospects for the first time, or those faced with a sudden problem.
Pensions can easily get complicated, but the basics are not hard to grasp. And with fewer people at work now covered by good employer schemes, and both major parties aiming to make state pensions less important, many people working today have no idea how poor they could be in retirement.
And arrangements that have seemed secure and reliable for years can go suddenly wrong. Many companies have closed good schemes to new members, and some have suddenly faced the loss of their pension when their employer goes bust.
That means it's up to everyone at work to take control of their pension prospects, understand their own situation and make what changes they can to help ensure a reasonable retirement.
Pensions can come from three main sources:
Because pensions are complicated and there is so much ground to cover, we have organised the information a little differently in this part of workSMART.
As usual we have sections that answer the detailed questions that people put to us.
But to get a grip on your own pension situation you do need more of an overview. So as well as detailed questions and answers on occupational, personal and State Pensions in the usual snappy workSMART style, we also provide:
Particularly with a complex issue like pensions, any guide such as this always faces the difficult problem of getting the balance right between making pensions easier to understand and setting out every bit of detail.
We hope we have got the balance right for you, but this does mean we have to gloss over some of the finer points of detail and the exceptions that only affect a very few people.
You should always take further advice before taking major decisions about your pension, and we provide a guide to further sources of pensions advice and information.
If you are talking to an adviser or the provider of your pensions, you can use workSMART to work out the questions you need to ask, and to give you the confidence to ask for more detail.
We have provided lots of links to government, official and non-commercial websites, and in particular to the Pension Service and the Financial Services Authority, as we are impressed by the efforts they have made to provide clear and easy to understand material.
We’ve provided other links where we think they can help. We would also like to thank the Plain English Campaign for permission to use material from their pensions glossary in our jargon buster, though we've also added our own definitions as well.
Just because we like these other sources, it doesn’t mean that they endorse us in any way.
There are other official or independent bodies, which have an interest in the running of occupational pensions schemes, with useful material:
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