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Retirement Account

A flexible personal pension which allows your client to save through single or regular payments.

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Tools & calculators

Direct access to the Retirement Modeller & Capped Drawdown GAD Calculator
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Overview

About the Retirement Account

A personal pension with two parts, the Pension Savings Account and the Pension Income Account. Your clients can choose to invest in either or both of these parts. We also offer the flexibility to phase taking money from the Pension Savings Account to the Pension Income Account.

 

Pension Savings Account

  • Contributions into your Pension Savings Account go into a 'cash account' before being invested. If we receive interest on the amount in your cash account, we will normally add the interest paid by the bank to your cash account monthly in arrears. The interest rate on the Cash Account is 0.07% below the current Bank of England base rate.

  • Contributions and transfers are paid in and invested in this account, with the exception of drawdown to drawdown transfers which are invested straight into the Pension Income Account. 
  • Taken from the normal minimum pension age (currently 55, 57 from 6 April 2028), UFPLS (Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sums) can be withdrawn from the Pension Savings Account. 
  • Every time your client takes a UFPLS, 25% will usually be tax-free and the rest of the money will be treated as a source of income and taxed accordingly.

    •  

Pension Income Account

  • Investments from the Pension Savings Account are moved to this account to access drawdown and tax-free cash.
  • Up to 25% of the amount can usually be taken tax-free, then the rest can be taken as taxable income if required.
  • Transfers from other drawdown plans are paid in and invested here.

Key elements

Eligibility

  • The Retirement Account is available to anyone who is a resident of the United Kingdom. It can be opened up on behalf of children under the age of 18. 
  • Clients can make payments into the Retirement Account until they are aged 75. 
  • Money from another pension can be transferred in before and after the age of 75.

 

Contributions

  • There is no maximum contribution or transfer amount, but for any requests to invest a total of £1 million or more, please contact your account manager. 
  • Contributions must be made in Sterling from a UK bank account.

Product features

Features

  • Helps your client save for retirement in a tax-efficient way using either a Pension Savings Account or a Pension Income Account.

  • This product provides flexibility for your client.
  • Offers both Flexi-Access Drawdown and Capped Drawdown (for eligible customers) options.
  • This product allows single or regular contributions and withdrawals or the ability to take a lump sum.

  • They can also transfer in other pensions they may have.
  • The ability to choose from a wide range of investment options, including our PruFund range of funds and hundreds of collective funds within one pension.

  • Contributions can be made by the client, their employer, a third party or by transferring money from an existing pension scheme.

  • It offers your client flexibility to change their retirement income in the future if their circumstances change.

  • Your client can monitor their Retirement Account online at any time by registering for our Retirement Account Online Services.

Risks

  • Withdrawals could deplete the fund before death, your client could run out of money in their lifetime. 

  • The value of your client’s investment could go down as well as up. They may not get back what they have paid in.

  • Inflation will affect the value of the money your client gets back.

  • If the total of charges and costs are higher than the investment growth, your client's plan will fall in value. Charges may also increase in future. 

  • The amount of income your client takes could push them into a higher tax bracket.

  • If your client is transferring their pension to us, there is no guarantee that the overall amount they receive will be as high as what they could have received from their previous provider, also any guaranteed rates that they had with their previous provider will not be transferred.

Key documents

Adviser documents

Client documents

Product document library

View all product documents

Tools & calculators

Retirement Modeller

Explore planning scenarios across your client’s full retirement journey with Prudential’s Retirement Account.

Use the Retirement Modeller

Capped Drawdown GAD Calculator

Find out the monthly gilt yield and the impact of this on the amount of income your client could take from capped drawdown.

Use the Capped Drawdown GAD Calculator

Investment options

The Retirement Account offers a wide range of investment choices. Your client can hold any combination of investment options, including our established PruFund range of funds and hundreds of collective funds, within one pension.

The PruFund range of funds aim to grow your money over the medium to long term (5 to 10 years or more).

Remember that the value of your client’s investment can go down as well as up. They may not get back what they have paid in.

For more information on the available funds please see our Retirement Account fund list.

 

PruFund Growth
  • The fund aims to maximise growth.
  • Invests in shares, property, fixed interest and other investments. The fund currently invests in UK and International equities, property, fixed interest securities, index-linked securities and other specialist investments.
  • Benefits from our established smoothing process
PruFund Cautious

 

  • Aims for steady and consistent growth through a cautious approach to investing. 
  • Invests in UK and international equities, property, fixed interest securities, index-linked securities, cash and other specialist investments.
  • We may occasionally move outside this range to meet the fund objectives.
  • Benefits from our established smoothing process

 
PruFund Planet
  • We offer a range of Sustainable Multi‑Asset Funds designed to meet different needs for risk and reward
  • And they have a positive outcome for people and the planet
  • Benefits from our established smoothing process

More about PruFund Planet Fund Range
Risk Managed PruFunds
  • Five Risk Managed PruFunds, designed to suit different attitudes to risk and reward. 
  • They all benefit from our established smoothing process
Risk Managed Active
  • Is a range of funds to meet different needs for risk and reward 
  • Is a fully-diversified actively managed fund option

More about the Risk Managed Active Range
Risk Managed Passive
  • Is a range of funds to meet different needs for risk and reward 
  • Offering a lower cost investment option with the benefit of a multi-asset approach

More about the Risk Managed Passive Range
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Funds
  • We’ve increased the choice of funds available on Retirement Account by adding a range of ESG funds (including the PruFund Planet Fund Range detailed above) which invest in asset classes such as equities, fixed income, property and alternatives, from a range of M&G and external fund managers.
  • Within the range there are both sustainable and climate focused funds managed by M&G, meeting high ESG standards and investing in companies driven by sustainability.

More about the ESG Funds
Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs)
  • A wide range of internal & external OEICs
  • Coverage of all of the main investment association sectors
  • Breadth of multi asset fund ranges from across the market
  • Full suite of M&G investment funds offered on the competitively priced Prudential platform share class, including sustainable and impact funds
  • Focused range of third party responsible, sustainable and impact funds
Other investment options
  • For even more choice, we also give access to other investment options, such as direct investment in UK stocks and shares, investment trusts and exchange traded funds through Stocktrade.

Charges & costs

We will make an annual charge for administering the Retirement Account, taken monthly as a percentage of the Fund Value. The Fund Value may be eligible for a Fund Size Discount.

Total Value Of Retirement Account Yearly Product Charge After Discount
£0 - £99,999

0.30%

£100,000 - £249,999

0.20%

£250,000 - £499,999

0.15%

£500,000 - £749,999

0.15%

£750,000 - £999,999

0.125%

£1,000,000+

 0.10%

The product charge is taken from all investments in the Retirement Account, including the Cash Account, and is deducted differently depending on the type of investment. Charges may vary in future.

PruFund

  • Taken by unit deduction for guaranteed and non-guaranteed unit holdings.

Cash Account and Collectives

  • Payment made from the Cash Account of the Total Product Charge minus the PruFund Product Charge.

  • If the value of the Cash Account cannot cover the Product Charge, disinvestment of assets will be required.

For more information, including the charges and Fund Size Discounts, please see our Fast Facts document.

Yearly charge

This is a charge for looking after the investment. This may vary between funds and may change throughout the lifetime of the Retirement Account. Where your client has invested in PruFund, this charge can also be referred to as an Annual Management Charge.

You can download our Fund List to see the Yearly Charges that apply.

Further costs

There are other costs that aren’t covered by the yearly charge. These can include, for example, maintenance costs for property investments and costs associated with investing in infrastructure, such as utilities, transport and renewable energy. These costs can vary over time.

For external funds, they are described as "ongoing charges" and quoted as a percentage in the Key Investor Information Documents (KIIDs).

Additional information on Further costs for our PruFund range is available in the PruFund Fund Guide. 

For all fund types, the charge is calculated daily and reflected in the fund's price.

The PruFund Protected Funds are currently unavailable to new investments.

There is a charge for both types of guarantee, taken monthly. The price paid is set when your client takes out a guarantee and applies for the length of time the guarantee is in place. Although our guarantee charges may vary in the future for other investments, your client will continue to pay the charge fixed at the beginning of their guarantee.


If a new guarantee is taken out, a different charge may apply.

If your client turns off a guarantee, they can't have another guarantee of the same kind for 12 months unless:

  • they are adding a guarantee to new payments to their plan, or

  • they have switched off a guarantee in their Pension Savings Account so they can move money to their Pension Income Account where they want a guarantee to apply 

Guarantees will automatically come to an end on your client's death and can't be passed on to any beneficiaries.

The Retirement Account offers flexible adviser charging options, which you can tailor to your business model and client requirements.

  • The charge is deducted from the cash account or in line with the disinvestment profile provided if insufficient cash exists.

  • Adviser charges can be taken proportionally across all of your client's funds or you can specify which funds you want charges to be taken from.

    •  

Initial Adviser Charge

  • Deducted prior to investment for new business (and after payment of any Pension Commencement Lump Sum).

  • The initial adviser charge is taken from the cash account (disinvestment of assets will be needed if insufficient cash exists).

  • For single contributions and transfers, the Initial Adviser Charge can be expressed as a percentage of the contribution or a fixed monetary amount.  The maximum adviser charge that can be facilitated is 5% of the initial investment. The aggregate of all Initial and any Ad hoc Adviser Charges cannot exceed £30,000 in any 12 month period.

  • For regular contributions, the charge can be specified as a single percentage of the contribution, payable for a number of premium payments as agreed with your client. The maximum adviser charge on regular contributions is equal or equivalent to 25% of the initial 12 monthly payments.

  • For a percentage charge for initial advice on an unvested contribution the specified percentage is applied to the gross contribution, i.e the total of the contribution and the tax relief. The maximum amount is restricted to the value of contribution before tax relief is added.

    •  

Ad hoc Adviser Charge

  • Selected as a specified monetary amount. The maximum ad hoc charge is 2% of the fund value in a 12 month period.

  • The charge will be deducted from the cash account (disinvestment of assets will be needed if insufficient cash exists).

  • The aggregate of all Initial and Ad hoc Adviser Charges cannot exceed £30,000 in any 12 month period.
     

Ongoing Adviser Charges

  • Applied monthly, quarterly or annually – a fixed monetary amount or a percentage of up to 1% of the Account fund value.

  • The charge will be deducted from the cash account (disinvestment of assets will be needed if insufficient cash exists).

Charges made for Stocktrade Investments are:

Trading                                                

Min. Fee                  

Fee %               

Max Fee     

Online Trading

£15

0.5

£75

Offline Trading

An additional charge of £30 per trade will be applied where a trade is requested offline (phone, email, fax).

Nominee

Nominee charges of £20 per quarter (payable in January, April, July & October) will also apply. There is no charge for transfer in of UK stocks but a £15 stock transfer out charge will apply.

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"Prudential" is a trading name of Prudential Distribution Limited. Prudential Distribution Limited is registered in Scotland. Registered Office at 5 Central Way, Kildean Business Park, Stirling, FK8 1FT. Registered number SC212640. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Prudential Distribution Limited is part of the same corporate group as the Prudential Assurance Company Limited. The Prudential Assurance Company Limited and Prudential Distribution Limited are direct/indirect subsidiaries of M&G plc which is a holding company registered in England and Wales with registered number 11444019 and registered office at 10 Fenchurch Avenue, London EC3M 5AG, some of whose subsidiaries are authorised and regulated, as applicable, by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. These companies are not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America or Prudential plc, an international group incorporated in the United Kingdom.