How the new tax year affects your retirement savings

We’ve summarised the key changes that take effect in April 2018 below:

• Employees on our UK payroll, including temporary staff, who earn over £10,000 a year (and meet the other eligibility criteria) will be automatically enrolled. This earnings trigger remains unchanged.
• Qualifying earnings – being the band of earnings on which your AE Scheme contributions are calculated – will increase to between £6,032 and £46,350 a year.
• The minimum rate of contributions to the AE Scheme, set by the Government, will rise to 3% for the employee and 2% for the employer – see our Factsheet for more details.
• Pensioners entitled to the full State Pension will see their payments increase by £4.80 from £159.55 to £164.35 a week, meaning they’ll be almost £250 better off by the end of the tax year.
• There were no further changes made to the State Pension age, which is currently 65 for men and 64 for women (gradually rising to 65). It is set to increase from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
• For workers aged 25 and over, the National Living Wage will go from £7.50 to £7.83 per hour and for those aged 21-24, it will rise from £7.05 to £7.38 per hour. See Gov.uk for full details.
• Your personal allowance (the amount you can earn each year tax-free) will rise from £11,500 to £11,850 in April.