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Ready-Made Pension
Maximise your annual pensions allowance this tax year with our Ready-Made Pension.
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Features and benefits
Why choose a Bank of Scotland Ready-Made Pension?
- Experience backed by experts. Bank of Scotland supports customers across the UK and partners with Scottish Widows, combining long‑standing banking heritage with expert pension and retirement knowledge.
- We do the heavy lifting. Your pension investments are set up and managed for you, removing the need to select or manage funds yourself.
- Contribute on your terms. Make regular payments or add one‑off contributions whenever it suits your financial plans. You can also transfer in old pensions.
- Transparent pricing. A clear account fee of 0.3%, with a minimum of £5 each month. Ongoing charge figure of 0.1%.
- Stay in control on the go. View and manage your pension alongside your other accounts using the Bank of Scotland mobile banking app.
An easy way to get started with your pension
A Ready‑Made Pension could make investing in your future feel a lot more straightforward.
Our funds' past performance
Here’s how the funds have performed over the last 5 years. Past performance isn’t a guarantee of future returns, but it can help you see how the funds have behaved through different market conditions.
Performance shown includes ongoing charges and transaction costs but excludes the 0.3% account fee.
How we invest your Ready-Made Pension
We want to make it easy to save for your retirement. That’s why we do the hard work and invest for you through our partners, Scottish Widows.
We invest your pension based on the age at which you’re planning to retire.
If you’re years away from retiring, we invest to give you the best chance of growth. As you approach retirement, we move your portfolio into lower-risk investments to help protect your pension value.
For more information, please see the Ready-Made Pension Investment guide (PDF, 170 KB).
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Remember that the data in this table refers to the past. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Change in performance by year Date
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
Date
31st Mar 2025 - 31st Mar 2026
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
6.0%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
14.6%
Date
31st Mar 2024 - 31st Mar 2025
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
4.6%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
6.0%
Date
31st Mar 2023 - 31st Mar 2024
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
8.7%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
13.8%
Date
31st Mar 2022 - 31st Mar 2023
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
-6.9%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
-2.9%
Date
31st Mar 2021 - 31st Mar 2022
Managed growth fund 2 Cautious
0.4%
Managed growth fund 6 Adventurous
7.8%
Apply for a Ready-Made Pension
If you’re ready, opening a Ready‑Made Pension can help you build for your future.
Before you apply
To apply, you must:
- be aged 18 to under 75
- be a UK resident and UK taxpayer
- not be a US person
- pay a minimum payment of £150 a month or £5,000 one-off (both include tax relief) or transfer pensions with a combined value of at least £10,000.
If you’re transferring, make sure any old pensions:
- are from a UK-based provider
- have not already entered into drawdown. For example, you’ve not taken an income or a tax-free lump sum from them
- don’t have any valuable features or guarantees that you’d potentially lose upon transferring (see FAQs).
You’ll need your National Insurance number and, if transferring, the provider’s name, policy number and value of each pension.
You'll need to read the key features document (PDF, 156KB) and terms and conditions (PDF, 257KB).
Fees and charges
Our fees are clear and straightforward, making it easier to plan for your future.
You’ll need to pay an annual account fee and investment charge. What you pay will depend on how much you invest.
- Annual account fee of 0.3% (or a minimum of £5 a month)
- Ongoing investment charges of 0.1%
We won’t charge you for pension transfers – whether you’re transferring in or out. And we also don’t charge you to top up or drawdown your pension.
What your pension pot could look like
Ready-Made Pension illustration
Our example pension illustration gives a view of what happens when investing in a Ready-Made Pension over time. It shows any potential growth of a pension, starting from when you open your account, until you reach retirement.
Are you on track for retirement?
Our pension calculator is a guide to what your retirement income could look like. See how making changes to your contributions or retirement age could make a difference to your pension value.
Taking money from your pension
As you approach retirement, you’ll have a number of options for how and when you access your pension savings. Each option has different tax and investment considerations.
Frequently asked questions
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No, you can transfer one or more older pensions, as long as the total initial value is over £10,000. This will open your Ready-Made Pension and once this is set up, you can add more pensions to it anytime in the future.
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Please note that you can’t transfer every type of pension.
We can’t accept:
Pensions with guarantees
This is a pension with a Guaranteed Annuity Rate. It means you could get a higher income than you’d get at today’s rates when you retire.
Or
Guaranteed Minimum Pension or Section 9(2B) rights
These may provide you with a guaranteed income when you retire. You’re not likely to match this amount when transferring. Please check with your current provider, as they should have more details on this.
Or
Guaranteed Conversion Option:
This allows you to convert your pension into a fund, which gives you access to a wider, more flexible range of benefit options. At today’s rates, it’s unlikely that this fund will be worth as much as your original pension.
Pensions with defined benefits
Also known as final salary benefits, this is where you receive guaranteed pension income based on your salary, rather than how much you’ve paid in. Your current provider should have more details on this.
Workplace pension
A pension that you and an employer still pay into.
Other reasons you can’t transfer
Your pension may be with a provider outside of the UK. It could be subject to a pension sharing or earmarking order following a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. Or it has been, or will be, set up using disqualifying pension credits. This is when the pension sharing order is applied to a pension already in payment or income drawdown.
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To see what you may get back from your pension, we’ll provide an example illustration when you apply. These figures are only examples and aren’t guaranteed – they’re not minimum or maximum amounts.
We’ll send you a personalised illustration when your Ready-Made Pension is set up.
Use our pension calculator as a guide to see what your retirement income could be. You can also see how making changes to your contributions could make a difference to your overall pension pot.
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The Lifetime Allowance (LTA) limit for personal pensions was abolished on 6 April 2024. It was replaced by the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA), which is £268,275, and the Lump Sum Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA), which is £1,073,100. The total number of tax-free lump sums, which can be paid from any pensions you have, is limited by these new allowances.
There’s no limit to how much you can save into a pension throughout your lifetime. But there is an annual maximum called the ‘annual allowance’.
You may still contribute the equivalent of 100% of your annual earnings each year. Or up to a maximum of £60,000 (whichever is lower). You can also carry forward up to three previous tax years’ worth of unused allowances.
Find more information about the Lump Sum Allowance at gov.uk.
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One of the benefits of investing into a pension is tax relief. If the basic rate of tax is 20%, for every £80 you pay in, the government will top this up with an extra £20.
If you’ve told us you’re eligible, we’ll add basic rate tax relief automatically to any regular or one-off contributions you make into your Ready-Made Pension. If you’re a higher rate taxpayer, you can claim additional tax relief through your self-assessment tax return.
How much you can pay in without a tax charge will depend on your circumstances.
- You can normally pay up to £60,000 (the Annual Allowance) into your pensions each tax year without paying a tax charge (or up to 100% of your taxable yearly income if less).
- If you’re not working and don’t have any income, you can still pay in £3,600 each tax year (you pay in £2,880, with £720 tax relief).
- If you’re a high earner, a lower limit could apply known as Tapered Annual Allowance. See further information at www.gov.uk.
- If you’ve taken out a taxable cash sum or flexible income, the amount you can contribute without paying a tax charge is limited to £10,000 (the Money Purchase Annual Allowance).
Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances. Your circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.
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If you would like financial advice, you could speak to an Independent Financial Adviser. Unbiased and Vouchedfor will let you find a local adviser based on your requirements. There will be a charge for this service.
You get free help and guidance through Pension Wise. If you’re over 50, you’ll also benefit from a free 60-minute appointment.
Alternatively, Lloyds Wealth could also help. Personalised advice is available across a range of products and services. It all starts with a free, no obligation chat, then a financial plan that’s tailored to you. To be eligible, you’ll have at least £100,000 in sole or joint savings, investments or personal pensions, or sole income of at least £100,000. Fees and charges may apply.
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You may forget about a pension you already have. This could impact how much you can save for retirement.
For further support, you can go to The Pension Tracing Service, which is operated by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Explore your options
We want to make sure you know about our other Pension options. Here’s one that might suit you.
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Combine your pensions
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Important legal information
Bank of Scotland Share Dealing Service is operated by Halifax Share Dealing Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 3195646. Registered Office: Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 2RG. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under registration number 183332. A Member of the London Stock Exchange and an HM Revenue & Customs Approved ISA Manager.
Bank of Scotland plc. Registered in Scotland No. SC327000. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 169628.
Ready-Made Pensions is provided by Embark Investment Services Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales (company number 09955930) with its registered office at 33 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1HZ. Embark Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Register number 737356).
