Saving for your future
Whatever your age or circumstances, saving into a pension scheme over the long-term is recognised as one of the best ways of building a nest egg for retirement.
As your employer we are committed to providing you with access to a good workplace pension as part of your overall benefits package. Whether retirement is a long way off or just around the corner, it is never too early or too late to start planning for your financial future.
There are two ways we can help you do this:
We offer the Boots Retirement Savings Plan (BRSP), which is a group personal pension scheme designed to be flexible. Once you have completed three months’ service, you can apply to become a member. As a member of the scheme, you may also be eligible for life assurance cover.
Current legislation requires all UK businesses to enrol eligible employees into a workplace pension and for both the employer and employee to make contributions (in line with a minimum set by the Government) into that scheme. This is known as ‘auto-enrolment’ and to meet these requirements, we have set up a separate section of the BRSP, called the Auto-Enrolment Scheme (or AE Scheme).
You will be automatically enrolled into the AE Scheme if you are on our UK payroll and you:
- Are not currently a member of the BRSP
- Earn over £10,000 a year (the Government's threshold for 2022/23)
- Are aged 22 or over, but under State Pension Age
- Work, or usually work, in the UK
If you do not meet the criteria you will not be automatically enrolled, but you may be able to join the BRSP or AE Scheme. Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled after their third monthly pay period (or after 13 weeks if paid weekly) following their start date.
Key features
As the AE Scheme is a section of the BRSP, they work in a similar way. When you join, an individual Retirement Savings account is set up in your name. Contributions from you and your employer are credited to this account and invested to build up over the years. The value of your account will then be used to provide benefits when you retire.
The Legal & General Key Features document has a lot more detail about how our plan works.
- Choice
- Contributions will be invested in the Default Fund, but you can select a different fund once you become a member.
- Choice
- You choose how to take your benefits – generally you will be able to take a mix of cash and regular income.
- Financial support*
- Your employer makes a contribution to your retirement savings, helping you save even more for your future.
- Portability
- If you leave the company your employer’s contributions will cease, but you can continue to pay into the scheme. Alternatively, you may be able to transfer the funds you have built up into another scheme.
* If you join the BRSP or are automatically enrolled, you will benefit from a contribution by your employer. If you are not eligible to be auto-enrolled, but you decide to opt in, you may not be entitled to the employer contribution
There are, however, some important differences:
- Membership
- BRSP: You can choose to join once you have completed three months’ service. Entry is on the 1st day of the following month. We will acknowledge receipt of your application and notify L&G, who will then write to you to confirm your membership.
AE Scheme: If after three months you’ve not joined the BRSP and meet the eligibility criteria you will be automatically enrolled. You will receive a Notification Letter from L&G. Once you have been enrolled, you will be able to opt out.
- Your contributions
- BRSP: You decide how much to save – from 3% to 6% of your Retirement Savings Pay. You can pay in more, but it will not be matched by your employer.
AE Scheme: You pay 3% of Band Earnings until 2019, when it will increase to 5%. These rates are fixed, so you cannot pay in less or more.
- Your employer’s contributions
- BRSP: Your employer will match your savings by up to 6% of your Retirement Savings Pay.
AE Scheme: Your employer will pay 2% of your Band Earnings, rising to 3% in 2019.
- Life assurance cover
- BRSP: You get life cover of four times (4x) your annual Retirement Savings Pay, rising to five times (5x) after you have been a member for five years.
AE Scheme: Not provided.