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What happens when you become a member?
One of the great benefits of joining a workplace pension scheme is you'll usually start to receive employer pension contributions, to help you build your pension savings.
Contribution information
Your employer will contribute to your pension if you are auto-enrolled into your pension. Your employer’s contribution and the income tax-relief (where applicable) on your own contribution could make your money go a lot further. If your employer runs a salary exchange arrangement you’ll get even more, in the form of National Insurance savings. Contact your employer for more information.
The sooner you start paying into your pension, the more comfortable your life could be when you stop working.
You can opt out, but if you do you will lose out on your employer’s contribution and income tax relief meaning you may have less money for your retirement. Your employer will have to re-enrol you every three years, as long as you still meet the eligibility criteria, however you will still have the option to opt-out.
Your pension contributions
| Employer contribution | Employee contribution | Total contribution |
| 6.5% | 2.5% | 9% |
Points to note:
Salary Sacrifice is the default method for making payments into the plan
As noted below the amount that is actually paid into your pension works out the same as if you had made a personal pension contribution and received tax relief at your highest rate.
Consequently and as also noted below, the amount given up never becomes part of your pay, whilst the amount of income tax you pay will be the same, as you do not pay National Insurance on the salary you have given up, your take-home pay will increase slightly.
Your higher salary figure before the reduction is called your 'reference salary'. This is kept on record and is used for pay reviews, calculating pension contributions, mortgage references and benefits such as life assurance.
You can change the amount of salary you give up each year, as well as deciding to opt in or out of Salary Sacrifice during the annual flex window.
You can also make a change mid year if you experience a 'lifestyle event' through writing to HR at Iron Mountain.
Examples of lifestyle events include:
- Birth or adoption of a child
- Commencement of maternity leave
- Marriage/civil partnership
If you do not experience a lifestyle event, the level of salary you give up must stay the same until the next flexible benefits window.
If you wish, you can 'opt out' of Salary Sacrifice at outset or a later date and pay contributions from your salary via the traditional "relief at source method". HR at Iron Mountain can provide further information about this.
Payments into your pension
What the government will pay into your pension
The more you pay into your pension, the more you could get from the government, meaning you could boost the amount of money in your pension.
However, there are limits on the amount of tax relief you can get from your pension payments each year.
Please remember, tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
If you want some more information on the tax rules on pension payments visit https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions/managing-your-pension.
Investments
The money you have invested into your pension doesn't just sit there waiting for you to retire. Aviva pools your money with that of other investors and invests it with the aim of growing the size of your pension. Pooled funds are a way of putting sums of money from many people into a large fund spread across many investments. Funds are managed by investment professionals. Investing this way can be easier and less risky than buying shares directly and there are lots of funds to choose from. Please bear in mind that the value of your pension savings can go down as well as up and it may be worth less than the amount paid in.
To understand more about your investment options, please read the 'Your Investment Guide' document which you can download on the Documents page.
Further investment information is also available at aviva.co.uk/retirement/fund-centre/pension-funds/other-investment-options/.
Login
Manage your policies the easy way with MyAviva
- Access your pension through facial or thumbprint recognition.
- Check the latest value of your pension, update personal details and nominate a beneficiary
- Switch investment funds or transfer-in pension pots
- Make additional single payments in
You only need to register one pension plan to view any others you may have with Aviva.
State pension information
Could you afford to live on the state pension alone?
To receive the full amount, the new State Pension requires 35 qualifying years on your National Insurance (NI) record. You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your NI record to get any State Pension.
The full new State Pension is £221.20 per week, for the 2024/2025 tax year. For more detail please visit gov.uk/new-state-pension.
When can you claim the state pension?
The government is in the process of increasing the age at which you can claim the state pension. If you retire early and are only planning to rely on the state pension, you won't have any income from when you retire until you reach state pension age. To check your state pension age, please visit gov.uk/state-pension-age. When you come to retire the government may have changed their rules.
Will you get any other money from the government?
You might also be eligible for other benefits, such as pension credit. This is an income-related benefit which could top up the amount you receive each week. There’s more information about this on the gov.uk/pension-credit.
Tools
To help you with your retirement planning, we provide a range of planning tools so you can think about the kind of income that your pension savings could provide for you. You can look at the sort of pension pot you might have when you reach retirement and what impact making changes to your pension contributions could have.
Shape my Future
Can help give you an idea whether your potential retirement income will fund the lifestyle you want.
The Mid-Life MOT app
The Mid-Life MOT app provides a free check-up of your wealth, work and wellbeing. Our Mid-Life MOT app is a small investment of your time, but it could make a big difference. Designed for people in the UK between 45 and 60.
Retirement Spending Calculator
Discover how much you might spend during your retirement compared to your current spending and what sort of income you'd need to cover your costs.
Pension calculator
Learn more about the future of your pension plans and how long your money might last in retirement.
Contact us
Got a question? We are here to help
Contact your employer
Name: Global HR Service Support Team
email: irmHR.EMEA@ironmountain.com
website https://irm.service-now.com/mymap
Phone number:+44 0800 2797620
Guidance and Advice
This site does not provide financial advice.