Retirement isn’t a distant dream, it’s a reality for you to shape.
Imagine a life where you're free to explore your passions, travel, and spend quality time with loved ones: all without financial worries. That’s what a well-structure pension can give you. Because pensions aren’t just about the numbers - they’re a way for you to create a life you love.
What’s a Santander Personal Pension?
The Santander Personal Pension offers a tax-efficient way to save for your retirement.
Think of it like a turbo-charged savings account. It's designed for the long-term (often open for decades) to make sure you've saved enough to prepare for life after your working years.
Whether you want to pay in regular amounts or with lump sums, you decide how to invest.
- You can also transfer in existing pensions you may have.
- You can take your pension once you reach 55 (57 from 6 April 2028).
- You can normally take up to 25% of the money tax-free. Then you can take the rest as a taxable lump sum.
Easy to get started, feels great to get sorted
Our personal pension is a type of SIPP (self-invested personal pension) that makes it easy to reach your goals.
Whether you're building a nest egg separate to your workplace pension, want to bring multiple pensions together or looking to start your first pension, you can get something that works for you.
Why consider the Santander Personal Pension?
The Santander Personal Pension is a self-invested pension. This lets you save, invest and build up pension savings. It gives you more flexibility and control with the investments you can choose.
Read on to find out more about the benefits you could enjoy with the Santander Personal Pension.
If you have multiple pensions elsewhere
Make life simpler, today and when you retire, by bringing all your pensions together in one place.
We'll manage your pension transfers for you, and we won't charge you to transfer them to us.
If you’re self-employed or freelance
Start your own pension and control how much you want to pay in each month or whenever else you’d like.
Get going with just £100 or choose to set-up regular payments for as little as £20 each month.
If you already have a workplace pension
Build a separate pension pot and enjoy a £20 boost from the government for every £80 you add.
Grow your money to help you get the income you want for as long as you need it.
How much should I pay into my personal pension?
It depends on many things, including:
- the age you start saving towards retirement
- when you want to retire
- how much income you'd like to get, and
- how long you'd like your income to last.
How much you pay into your pension is an important decision. It also needs to be affordable to you. And you can only take your pension early if you have poor health.
How do I work it out?
If you start paying into your pension today, you can work out how much you should roughly be paying into it each year. You need to:
- take your age and halve it, then
- use that number as a percentage (%) of your wage.
For example, a 30-year-old earning £40,000 per year should try to pay £6,000. This is because half of 30 is 15, and 15% of £40,000 is £6,000.
This amount also includes any money your employer adds to any pension you have.
What happens next?
Save this amount each tax year until you retire. If your earnings increase, then you should also increase the amount you save.
These figures are just a guide. If you want to retire early, then you should save more. If you want to retire later, you could save less. And you should review your pension regularly to see how it's doing and adjust it if you need to.
As with all investments, your capital is at risk, and you may get back less than you invest. Investments should be held for the medium to long term (5+ years).
You normally can't take your pension savings until the minimum pension age has been reached. You’re free to transfer to another provider at any time.
The tax treatment of your investment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
Why do I need a pension?
A pension provides a safety net for our future. When you retire, you’ll need a steady income to cover living expenses, holidays, and life’s essentials. Allowing you to enjoy the golden years without constant worry.
It’s like planting a money tree and watching it grow steadily over time.
Why choose us for your pension?
See just how easy starting a pension with us can be on our Investment Hub. Whether you'd like a simple plan or one you’ve more control over, you can get a pension that works for you.
[On screen message: As with all investments your capital is at risk, and you may get back less than you invest. Investment held within the Santander Personal Pension can’t be accessed until the minimum retirement age.]
When life is hectic, thinking about the future is often the last thing on our minds.
We know we want to be comfortable and enjoy our retirement, but how do you get there?
Choosing to add money to a pension is a tax efficient way to help you become financially ready when you retire.
So where are you now? Have you already enrolled in a workplace pension but are wondering if this will be enough?
Are you self-employed and considering what’s the most effective way to put money aside for your future?
Or you simply have different pensions in different places and want to be able to see them altogether.
The good news is that you may benefit by using Santander’s Personal Pension
allowing you to save, invest and build up pension savings.
[Text overlay: What are the benefits?]
With our Personal Pension, you’ll benefit from being in control. You decide where your money is invested.
Our online Investment Hub lets you pick the investments funds you want to invest in.
Another great feature is how a Personal Pension lets you choose how much you want to contribute and when.
Plus, you can take breaks or increase your contributions when your financial situation allows.
It's adaptability at its finest, giving you the freedom to navigate life's twists and turns.
[On screen message: Tax reliefs are subject to prescribed limits. The favourable tax treatment of pension may be subject to change in the future and is subject to individual circumstances.]
When paying into a Personal Pension, tax relief is paid by the government and added to your pension savings.
It’s like getting free money to boost your pension savings! But there’s a limit on the tax relief you can claim.
And when you reach 55 you can decide to withdraw up to 25% of your pension pot which is normally paid tax free.
And lastly, your Personal Pension sits alongside all your other Santander accounts.
Meaning you benefit from the simplicity of seeing and managing your money in one place.
[On screen message: This video doesn’t replace financial advice. If you’re thinking about investing or planning for retirement and aren’t sure if an investment is right for you, you can ask for advice. Free, impartial guidance from can be found at moneyhelper.org.uk. This is a government backed service designed to help you understand pensions. Learn more on our website where you can also seek financial advice.]
Our pension in a nutshell
Invest in a way that suits you with one of our options below.
- Pick our off-the-shelf, Core Investment Option.
- Choose from a range of Santander funds or funds from across the market.
Feel in control using the Investment Hub.
- Bring all your pensions together in one place.
- Watch how your pension performs on your mobile, tablet, or laptop.
- Easily buy or switch your investment funds.
Start your pension today
Time is your best friend. The sooner you start contributing to your pension, the more time it has to grow.
1: Open an account
Follow a few simple steps to open a Santander Personal Pension.
2: Browse and pick
Research what you want to invest in. You could pick our off-the-shelf Core Investment Option, or choose from a range of Santander funds or funds from across the market.
3: Decide how much to invest
Start with as little as £20 per month or £100 lump sum.
4: Track your performance
Whether you want to check your investments online or through the app, we have you covered.
All with a clear charging structure
A maximum Platform Service Fee of 0.35% per year
View our fees, charges and keys documents
Transferring your existing pensions
No need to spend hours on the phone trying to transfer your pensions – we can take the legwork out of it for you.
1: Tell us
First, let us know about all the companies you have a pension with that you want to transfer.
2: We’ll get started
Our teams will then manage the next steps to keep you up-to-date with managing transfers for you.
3: All done
Once that’s all done, you’ll be able to see all your existing pensions and how much money you have in the Investment Hub.
Useful information
Our personal pension is a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) that’s designed to be a long-term, tax-efficient way of helping you save for your retirement. It gives you access to a wide range of investment funds so you can choose how you want to invest.
You must:
- be at least 10 years away from retirement
- know your money will both fall and rise in value over the time you invest
- understand that you can’t take any of your benefits until you’ve reached at least the minimum pension age, and
- know there are limits in place for the amount you can get tax relief on.
Like with any personal pension, you can normally access your pension savings once you turn 55.
However, the minimum pension age will rise to 57 from 6 April 2028.
You can start paying into your pension with as little as £20 a month or make a one-off £100 payment. Or you can do both. These are the amounts before tax relief has been applied.
The maximum amount of tax relief you can claim will depend on your circumstances. If you’re employed or self-employed, the total amount that can be paid into all your pension schemes (not just this one) by you or someone else on your behalf, is the lower of:
- 100% of your UK earnings, or
- the annual allowance (which is £60,000 for the 2024/25 tax year).
Your annual allowance may be lower if you’ve already started to flexibly access your pension, or you have a high income.
If you’re unemployed, you can pay in up to £240 a month (£2,880 a year). This is the amount before tax relief has been applied.
Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
Yes, you can combine your pension savings by transferring your existing pensions into your pension account. The pensions you can transfer must come from a UK-registered pension scheme.
We can’t transfer pensions that include any of the below.
- Safeguarded Benefits including final salary (known as defined benefits).
- Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP).
- Guaranteed annuity rates.
- Drawdown pension arrangements.
We also can’t accept pensions where benefits have already been paid from your existing pension scheme.
Please check with your existing provider before starting a transfer if any of these apply to you.
Please talk to your employer before transferring any pension savings from their scheme. Payments they make for you may stop if you transfer.
Combining all your pension savings into one account doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get more money when you retire.
Whether a personal pension is right for you depends on your circumstances and how much money you’d like to have when you retire.
Different providers offer different options. We suggest that you shop around to find the best option for you.
If you’re not sure whether a personal pension from us is right for you, you may want to get advice from a financial adviser.
If you don’t have a financial adviser and aren’t comfortable making your own investment decisions without advice, visit MoneyHelper for free and impartial guidance that’s backed by the government.
You should be aware that stakeholder pensions are generally available and might meet your needs as well as the Santander Personal Pension.
Pension tax relief is an amount you can get if you invest in a UK-registered pension scheme. Whether you're eligible for tax relief will depend on your circumstances. Transfers do not qualify for tax relief.
When you, or someone on your behalf, makes a payment into your Personal Pension Account, we’ll claim UK basic rate tax relief from HMRC and add this to the amount you’ve paid in.
For example (based on basic tax rate of 20%), if you’re paying in £400 a month, we’ll claim £100 from HMRC and add this on top of your payment. Overall, you would get £500 to invest into your Personal Pension Account.
If you’re a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer, you can claim the additional tax relief through your self-assessment.
Some pension providers offer investment pathways. These are investment options designed to meet your retirement needs based on how you'd like to take your money in retirement. The idea is that these are ready-made, good value investments, which broadly match a range of goals. They may offer a better retirement outcome for some.The 4 pathways are:
- I have no plans to touch my money in the next 5 years
- I plan to use my money to set up a guaranteed income (annuity) within the next 5 years
- I plan to start taking my money as a long-term income within the next 5 years, and
- I plan to take out all my money within the next 5 years.
We don’t currently offer investment pathways. The government's Pension Wise service offers free guidance to help you understand your options at retirement. Visit MoneyHelper’s pathways page for more details.
When you set up a Personal Pension Account, we’ll ask you to choose who you want to receive payment if you die. This is called a nominated beneficiary.
If you die before you start taking benefits, the total value of your Personal Pension Account is normally paid as a lump sum.
If you die after benefits have been paid to you from your Personal Pension Account, the payments which may arise following your death will depend on how you asked for any pension income to be paid. How these payments to your beneficiaries are taxed will depend on your circumstances at the date of death or when we receive notification of your death.
Why invest with Santander?
250,000+
people choose to invest with us
£6.4 billion
invested using the Investment Hub
Around 850
funds available on the Investment Hub
25+ years
experience providing investments