Group personal pension

Every employer, if they have five or more members of staff, must provide a pension facility for their employees. In most cases this comes in the form of an occupational pension scheme which is a large plan set up by the employer for their employees to which they contribute and pay costs.

However, if there's no occupational scheme the employer must either refer their staff to a stakeholder pension scheme or they can offer access to a group personal pension (GPP) scheme.

GPPs are arranged by a pension company, such as a bank or life insurance firm. The employer chooses a scheme they think will suit their staff. The difference between group personal pension plans and individual personal pension is that, because a number of people's pensions are run together, charges are lower. This means more of the pension-holders' money can be invested and then received at retirement.

They have the same rules as personal pension plans and therefore enjoy the same tax benefits. This means you do not pay income tax on the contributions you make and so the 22 per cent of your pension contribution that would usually go to the Inland Revenue is put into the pension pot.

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