- Flexible retirement options – we offer a range of income options, including drawdown, lump sums and tax-free cash. Check which options are available with your scheme.
- Lower costs – we don’t charge a service fee and you will only pay for the investments in your account.
- Ease – you can move your money between funds without explicit charges using our online service, PlanViewer. You will only pay for the investments in your account.
- Trust – Fidelity has over 60 years’ investing experience, and more than a million UK customers trust us with their investments.*
- Support – call 0800 3 68 68 68 if you have any questions about your pension.
What happens to my pension if I leave my job?
If you’ve left a job that paid into a Fidelity workplace pension, you might be wondering what happens to the savings you’ve built up.
When you leave your employer, you remain a member of their pension scheme. Your pension savings stay invested and Fidelity will carry on looking after your account – sending you annual statements, for example. On top of that, you still have the option of changing your existing investment options in your pension account and managing them over time.
Don’t be a stranger
As your pension provider, we really want to stay in touch. We need to send you annual statements and any other important messages, and we’ll want to get in touch when you’re approaching your retirement age.
So, please keep your contact details up to date with Fidelity. It’s especially useful for us to have your personal email address. Log in to PlanViewer and go to ‘My profile’ then ‘Personal information’. Or call us on 0800 3 68 68 68.
Small steps to take now
Make sure your details are up to date
Log in to PlanViewer and check your email is set to your personal email address and make sure we have your correct address if you move house (or even if you don’t).
Look after your loved ones
It’s important to tell us who you would like to receive the money from your pension if you die. This is known as nominating or updating your beneficiaries. Read more about passing on your pension here.
Check your retirement age
We use the retirement age shown in PlanViewer to know when to send you information about taking money from your pension and produce projections, like those in your annual account statement. It may also affect the way the investments are held in any automated strategies year to year, as their allocations are driven by your retirement age.
If you decide to retire earlier or later than the age in PlanViewer, make sure you log in to PlanViewer and update your Date Selected for Retirement – go to ‘My profile’ and select ‘Personal information'. Read more about reviewing your retirement age here.
Keeping your pension with Fidelity
If you leave your pension with us, we’ll continue to invest it in the same way as if you were still an employee. Depending on your scheme, you may also be able to make single contributions, even after you have left your job – this could be particularly useful if you are self-employed. Make sure you are aware of what tax relief is available to you and how it is applied.
You’ll still have the same investment options for your pension savings, whether that means choosing your own funds through PlanViewer or sticking with the default strategy for your scheme. Please remember that the value of your pension savings may go down as well as up and you may get back less than you save.
Your pension in the palm of your hand
See the progress of your pension and get a real-time summary of your rate of return with our PlanViewer app.
Read moreFlexible income options
You have more choice and flexibility in how you set up your retirement income than ever before. We offer a range of flexible income options to help you access your money however you want.
See your optionsCosts and charges
The only explicit charges you pay are the annual management charges and other investment charges, such as auditing and registry fees, which are referred to as the Total Expense Ratio (TER). Details of the TERs you pay can be found on your fund factsheets. These charges are built into the daily unit price of the fund and so you won’t see explicit deductions taken from your account.
In addition to the TER, there are transaction costs on your funds which cover the costs involved in buying and selling a fund’s underlying investments. These are not new or additional charges and are implicit. They have always been there within the unit price of your funds, but you can now see them and understand their impact on your investment return here. Read more about costs and charges here.
Combine your pensions
If you have pensions from previous jobs, bringing them together could save you time and money. If your scheme allows you to transfer other pensions to Fidelity, you could benefit from:
*Source: Fidelity International 30.09.2021
If your scheme allows you to transfer pensions to Fidelity you should be able to do this by logging in to PlanViewer and using our online transfer tool.
It’s important to understand that pension transfers are a complex area and may not be suitable for everyone. Before going ahead with a pension transfer, we strongly recommend that you undertake a full comparison of the benefits, charges and features offered.
You have the option of transferring your Fidelity workplace pension to another provider. To do this you should contact that provider and give them the details of your Fidelity pension.
Please be sure to compare the costs associated with this before transferring.
Fidelity also has a Self-invested Personal Pension (SIPP) available through our Personal Investing service, with a wide range of investments to choose from and a range of flexible income options.
Beware of pension fraud
There are many organisations that will offer seemingly attractive ways to invest or manage your pension savings. But not all of them are genuine. You should not trust a company that contacts you unexpectedly, whether it is by phone, text, email or post.
Find out more on our pension fraud page.
It’s important to understand that pension transfers are a complex area and may not be suitable for everyone. Before going ahead with a pension transfer, we strongly recommend that you undertake a full comparison of the benefits, charges and features offered.
Important points you need to think about
Moving a pension is a big decision so we recommend that you read our transfer factsheet and speak to an authorised financial adviser before you make a decision.
Here are some questions you should ask if you are thinking of moving your pension:
- Will I lose any valuable benefits if I move my pension? Some pensions guarantee you a certain level of income, allow you to withdraw money early or let you take more than the usual 25% of your account as tax-free cash. It is likely that you lose benefits like these if you transfer.
- Will a transfer affect the age I can start taking money from my pension? Currently you can start withdrawing money from most pensions when you are 55, but the government is thinking of changing this to 57 from 2028. However, it could stay at 55 for pensions you belonged to on 1 February 2021. As a result, a transfer could mean your minimum withdrawal increases from 55 to 57.
- Will there be any exit fees? Some pension providers charge exit fees (Fidelity don’t). You should check to see if there are any exit charges or penalties if you transfer out of your current pension, as this could affect its future value.
- How could a transfer affect my investments? It is likely that your current pension company will have to sell your investments and send the proceeds to your new provider as cash, and you can then choose new investments. This means there is a period when your money is not invested, and you could lose out if markets rise in value. On the other hand, you might benefit if markets fall during the period your money is not invested. You also need to remember that the value of any investment you choose can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest.
