Increasing Your Pension

You may wish to consider buying extra pension if you are not currently on track to receive the retirement income that you want (see Closing a Pension Gap). There are different ways in which you can increase your private pension savings: make extra contributions (see Making Extra Contributions), sacrifice a part of your salary (see Salary Sacrifice) or defer receiving your pension (see Deferring Your Non-State Pension). You may be reluctant to invest more money or time in your pension, but it is important to remember that your retirement years will hopefully be long and healthy ones, and so you may need a retirement income to support you over many years.

You may find that some options for increasing your pension are better suited to you at different times of your life. For example, when you first join a defined benefit scheme you may be made aware that making a specified contribution would effectively credit you with having an additional year of scheme membership. This may be an inexpensive way of increasing your defined benefit pension when you first join the scheme, but in later years the cost of buying an extra year may outweigh the resulting benefit.

It is worth investing more in your pension if you have the funds available and/or are concerned about having enough retirement income when you reach pensionable age. However, the best method of increasing your pension will depend on the individual terms and conditions of your pension scheme and on your personal finances. If you wish to increase your pension it is recommended that you consult the financial advisers of your pension scheme or ask an independent financial advisor how best to do so, based on your personal finances.