What is a pension?
A pension is a tax efficient way to save for an income when you retire. This section will tell you more about the The Economist Group Pension Plan and how it works.
It will look at what you need to consider to make the most of your pension savings, so when you retire you will have enough money to live on and do those things you are planning to do.
The The Economist Group Pension Plan is a low cost, flexible pension arrangement, which is fully portable within the UK. As a member, an individual pension plan will be established in your name.
Why is a pension important?
Millions of people aren’t saving nearly enough to give them the standard of living they hope for when they retire. If you fall into this category, you have three choices.
You can:
- retire later
- start saving more
- adjust downwards your expectations of what you’ll be able to afford in retirement.
Don’t rely on the State Pension to keep you going in retirement. Even if you’re eligible for the full State Pension of £221.20 a week for the tax year 2024/2025, this is far below what most people say they hope to retire on.
Why would a pension be important to someone like you?
How do I join?
You will be automatically enrolled into the The Economist Group Pension Plan if you meet specific criteria as defined by Government legislation for auto-enrolment.
If you are aged between 22 and state pension age and earn over £10,000 a year, you will receive a communication explaining when you will be enrolled.
If you do not meet this criteria, you can still become a member of the The Economist Group Pension Plan. You will receive a communication that will provide further instructions on how to do this.
I want to join/opt-in
If you have received your auto-enrolment communication and you either don’t meet the criteria or want to join earlier than your auto-enrolment date, you can opt in to the Plan.
Make sure you have your unique code provided in the communication to hand.
Important
When you opt in to the Plan, your membership will commence from the start of your next pay period. For example, if you are paid monthly it will be from the 1 st of the next month.
I want to opt-out
You do not have to join the Plan. If you have recently been enrolled and received your auto-enrolment communication, full details will be given on how to opt out.
By opting out you will not have contributions paid in to the The Economist Group Pension Plan by you or The Economist and a policy will not be established in the plan for you.
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You cannot opt out before you are automatically enrolled
- By opting out you will not have contributions paid into the The Economist Group Pension Plan by you or The Economist and a policy will not be established in the plan for you
- You will only receive a refund of contributions made during your specified opt out window, and if you don’t opt out prior to payroll cut off you may have 1 or more deductions taken
Before opting out
If you have had contributions paid across to Aviva then it may be that these will remain invested if you have not opted out or cancelled your policy within approximately 30 days.
If you do opt out of the Plan, you will be re-enrolled again every three years if you are still eligible.
You can re-join at any time. Contact HR for more details
If you have paid contributions in that have been invested
If you do not want to make any further contributions to your plan then you may be able to cease contributions. This would mean contributions from The Economist would also cease.