Which? Recommended Provider for Self-Invested Personal Pensions
“A simple way to invest, at a fraction of the cost of its rivals”
Learn more
What is a Vanguard Personal Pension?
It’s a flexible low cost pension that could help your retirement savings go further. Whether you’re just starting to save, or you’re already retired, our low costs mean you keep more of your money.
As with other pensions, the government will give you tax relief on your contributions, which makes it a tax-efficient way to grow your money.
The Vanguard Personal Pension is a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) where you control how you want your money to be invested. Then when you turn 55 you can start to enjoy your savings (this is going up to age 57 from 2028).
Find your pensions – for free
We can track down old and lost pensions for you. Then you have the option to bring them all together in our Personal Pension.
Create a pension finding account and start your search
Let your pension assistant do the work
Bring your old pensions together in a Vanguard Personal Pension
Why choose our Vanguard Personal Pension
Straightforward
If you’re a hands-on investor you can build your own portfolio using our individual funds.
You can choose from a wide range of fund types to suit your investment style and attitude to risk.
Over 45 years of experience
We’ve been taking a stand for investors for over 45 years. Now over 50 million clients worldwide invest with us for their future.
Low cost
We keep our fees low so you keep more of your returns.
Two ways to invest
Do it yourself
If you’re a hands-on investor you can build your own portfolio using our individual funds. You can choose from a wide range of fund types to suit your investment style and attitude to risk.
Or you can keep things simple with one of our Target Retirement funds.
We do it for you
We’ll match you with investments that fit your attitude to risk. Then we manage them every step of the way.
You'll also get expert investment guidance from real people if you need it.
Compare how you want to invest
You can manage your investments yourself, or let us do it for you. Here’s a quick comparison of the 2 options.
Do it yourself | We do it for you | |
|---|---|---|
24/7 access to your investments | ||
UK-based customer service team | ||
Which? Recommended Provider for Investment Platforms | ||
No hidden charges or exit fees | ||
A personal risk profile based on how you feel about risk | - | |
Choosing your funds | You pick from our range of over 85 | We pick for you based on your risk profile |
Managing your portfolio | You manage your portfolio yourself | We regularly monitor your portfolio and make changes when needed |
Personalised guidance from our investment experts | - | |
You can pay into your pension from business accounts and other Vanguard accounts | Only after your account has been opened | |
Drawdown available | Currently for retirement savers only | |
Fees | ||
Account fee | 0.15% of your investments per year | 0.15% of your investments per year |
Fund fee | From 0.06% per year, depending on the funds you choose | Typically 0.16% per year |
Management fee | None | 0.30% per year |
Total fee | From 0.21% per year depending on the funds you choose | 0.61% per year |
Working for yourself? Try our Personal Pension
We created our Vanguard Personal Pension with the self-employed in mind. It gives limited company directors, sole traders and partnerships the chance to save for retirement in a tax-efficient way.
Check if you’re on track for your retirement
Use our pension calculator to get an idea of how much you should save to get the retirement you want.
Save for retirement and save on tax
Tax relief on your contributions
When you pay into a pension, the contribution that would normally end up as tax goes towards your retirement instead.
25% tax free lump sum
When you start taking money from your pension you can usually take up to 25% tax free. The maximum tax-free cash you can take from all your pensions is £268,275.
Benefits for the self-employed
If you're a company director, you could benefit from making pension contributions from your business account.
Tax-efficient growth
Investing in a Vanguard Personal Pension is a tax-efficient way to grow your money for retirement.
Enjoy extra pension peace of mind
We make investing straightforward by choosing and managing your funds for you. All tailored to how you feel about risk.
Bring all your pensions together in a transfer
If you have old workplace pensions all over the place, you could make life simpler, and potentially save money, by transferring them to us.
With no minimum pension transfer value, it does not matter how big or small your pension is.
Pension drawdown without the drawbacks
We do not charge any extra fees when you start to take money from your pension. Everything's included in our standard 0.15% account fee.
Could our Personal Pension be the right choice for you?
Yes, you can have multiple pensions. This includes defined benefit schemes (such as final salary schemes) and defined contribution schemes (SIPPs, stakeholder, workplace or personal pensions).
It depends on whether you choose to manage your pension yourself or let us do it for you.
If you let us do it for you, only you can make payments into your pension from a personal bank account in your name.
If you choose to manage your pension yourself you can make contributions in a few ways:
- You can make payments from a personal bank account in your name.
- If you’re a limited company director you can make contributions from your business account. Learn more about making contributions from your own company.
- You can receive payments from anyone with a Vanguard account, such as a family member.
Your employer cannot make payments into your Vanguard Personal Pension.
The annual allowance is a limit on how much you can pay into all your pensions combined in each tax year and still get tax relief. This is set at £60,000 or your earnings, whichever is lower.
If you have unused allowance from the previous three tax years you may be able to use this in the current tax year. This is called ‘carry forward’.
If your income is more than £200,000 per year your annual allowance may be reduced.
You can learn more about the annual allowance on the HMRC website.
Need help?
Our UK-based team is ready to answer your questions. Get in touch
Still not sure?
Get free and impartial guidance from the government's MoneyHelper service.
We also offer
Stocks and Shares ISA
A low cost and tax efficient way to invest. Invest up to £20,000 per tax year.
Junior ISA
Invest for your child’s future. Any returns are free from income tax and capital gains tax.
General Account
Invest without limits. This account could be ideal if you’ve already used up your ISA or pension allowances.