Additional Payments into Pension

dont_use_vistaprint · 11 December 2018 at 9:01AM

I plan to make additional payments into Aegon Group Pen Default in the current tax year. Some questions I have:

Can the amount I put in exceed the remaining amount on payroll, and how would I administer this - would I make a payment to the company ?

What is the best way to do this, do it now , do 1/3 Jan-March (probably too late for Dec) , or wait until March 2019 ?

When I login I can see the plan name "Group Pen Default", number of units and current unit price, but all links to performance just go the Aegon homepage. How do I find out the performance and decide when is best to buy additional units.

Are there any other tax efficient ways to save I could use, e.g could I just open a 2nd private pension myself and deposit money from savings ? Would this then come off next years tax bill.

In terms of reducing 2017/18 tax due next month, I assume its not possible to backdate any additional payments and theres nothing possible regarding pension contribution after 31-March-18 that could be done to reduce it?

Thanks

EDIT: Since found this but it doesn't really help me know when to buy additional credits. If it was a small amount I understand it probably wouldn't make much difference but its a large amount

https://digital.feprecisionplus.com/documents/aegonportal/en-GB/FRN3/FS

Dox · 11 December 2018 at 10:23AM

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

I plan to make additional payments into Aegon Group Pen Default in the current tax year. Some questions I have:

Can the amount I put in exceed the remaining amount on payroll, and how would I administer this - would I make a payment to the company ?Yes, provided you don't exceed your annual allowance. You would need to make a payment direct to Aegon if it can't be wholly deducted from your net pay and then claim this on your tax return. Make sure Aegon know it is a personal payment

What is the best way to do this, do it now , do 1/3 Jan-March (probably too late for Dec) , or wait until March 2019 ? Who knows? The markets will be at their most unpredictable given the state of Brexit

When I login I can see the plan name "Group Pen Default", number of units and current unit price, but all links to performance just go the Aegon homepage. How do I find out the performance and decide when is best to buy additional units. You won't be able to predict the markets so don't worry too much!

Are there any other tax efficient ways to save I could use, e.g could I just open a 2nd private pension myself and deposit money from savings ? Would this then come off next years tax bill. Why would you want to open a second pension - what would you hope to achieve that you can't achieve with your current pension? How much are you earning? Why are you saving/what are you saving for? What's your attitude to risk? How's your health? Virtually no info to go on

In terms of reducing 2017/18 tax due next month, I assume its not possible to backdate any additional payments and theres nothing possible regarding pension contribution after 31-March-18 that could be done to reduce it? See https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/saving-into-a-pension/pensions-and-tax/carry-forward

Thanks

EDIT: Since found this but it doesn't really help me know when to buy additional credits. If it was a small amount I understand it probably wouldn't make much difference but its a large amount

https://digital.feprecisionplus.com/documents/aegonportal/en-GB/FRN3/FS

You have referred to 'a large amount' and appear to have very little financial knowledge (and no, that's not a criticism - just a comment based entirely on your question). Maybe spend some of it on decent financial advice?

Linton · 11 December 2018 at 11:17AM

I suggest you talk to your employers pensions people on how best to handle a large contribution. The Group Pension may not be able to accept payments from individuals. Note that you cannot pay more into a pension than your earnings in any one tax year. However the calculation is done at the end of the tax year so you can pay in a large sum provided it is covered by earnings later in the tax year.

You cannot make payments in this tax year to be counted against another year's tax.

You can pay into multiple pensions in any one tax year but the total must not exceed your earnings.

dont_use_vistaprint · 11 December 2018 at 11:24AM

Dox wrote: »

Why would you want to open a second pension - what would you hope to achieve that you can't achieve with your current pension? How much are you earning? Why are you saving/what are you saving for? What's your attitude to risk? How's your health? Virtually no info to go on

Thanks for the info very useful.

I just thought the Aegon one might not be one of the best and one that's setup by myself and not tied to a particular employer might be best as I plan to change jobs a lot before retiring, I can never get any info or response from Aegon. Its the first pension Iv'e ever had and its only had 2 years of payments, its currently worth £19k.

I'm saving for nothing in particular, no current plans to retire, just trying to reduce tax , am good with risk I have a growing P2P portfolio and two small businesses as well periodic employment, my health is very good thanks :-)

Dox · 11 December 2018 at 2:38PM

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

Thanks for the info very useful.

I just thought the Aegon one might not be one of the best and one that's setup by myself and not tied to a particular employer From the sound of it you are in a Group Personal Pension, so if you wish to go on contributing after you've left this employer, you'll be able to do somight be best as I plan to change jobs a lot before retiring, I can never get any info or response from Aegon. Is it worth having a word with your employer and giving them this sort of feedback, which is pretty important? Also worth making a complaint to Aegon if they aren't responding to your reasonable requestsIts the first pension Iv'e ever had and its only had 2 years of payments, its currently worth £19k.

I'm saving for nothing in particular, no current plans to retire, just trying to reduce tax , am good with risk I have a growing P2P portfolio and two small businesses as well periodic employment, my health is very good thanks :-)In that case have a look at some other options such as VCTs, EIS investments etc, all of which have tax advantages but are very much on the 'risky' side in terms of loss of capital

Hope the above comments help.

Pun · 12 December 2018 at 11:08AM

Linton wrote: »

You cannot make payments in this tax year to be counted against another year's tax.

You can with carry forward - see link given in post 2 above.

Linton · 12 December 2018 at 11:15AM

Pun wrote: »

You can with carry forward - see link given in post 2 above.

No - even if you use carry forward it will only affect the current year's tax. Carry forward only provides the ability to use any unused £40K pension allowance from the previous year.

Additional Payments into Pension

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