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Guidance & Education
Want to get pensions savvy?
Read on for more information about useful pension know-hows.
Pension Wise
Pension Wise is a free and impartial pensions guidance service sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (“DWP”). We recommend that you contact Pension Wise to make the most of the pensions education and guidance available to you.
If you are over 50, have a Retirement Account with the Baxi Group Pension Scheme and want to make sense of the options available to you, Pension Wise can offer you specialist pension guidance either over the phone or local to you. To book a free appointment visit the Pension Wise site here.
Independent Financial Advice
You can also speak to a financial adviser who will help you finalise your choices and find the right retirement products for you. You can find a financial adviser in your area at www.unbiased.co.uk.
We recommend that you speak to a financial adviser if you are not sure what option would work best for you on retirement. You should particularly think about taking financial advice if you are considering drawdown / flexible income.
Financial advisers charge for their services, so you might want to ask them for a fee estimate first.
Pension Scams
An increasing number of pension scams have come to light recently as fraudsters are exploiting the financially and physically vulnerable. Fraudsters know that savers have flexibility and choice about how to take their pension benefits and they are taking advantage of people’s changing financial circumstances and new opportunities to defraud people of their retirement savings. While cold calling about pensions became illegal in the UK in January 2019, it is wise to be alert to the dangers of scams, especially if you are thinking about transferring your benefits to a personal pension arrangement or an overseas pension plan. You can find out more about the risks of pension scams and how to spot them at:
ScamSmart – Avoid investment and pension scams | FCA Avoid pension scams | The Pensions Regulator
The Member Portal
You can access the dedicated portal for Baxi members at www.mybaxipensions.co.uk which allows you to view your pension account online, make changes to your contributions and investments and keep your details up-to-date. It includes some useful tools, such as a retirement modeller, which will help you keep an eye on whether you are on track to reach your retirement goals.
Guidance Materials
In order to aid any decision you need to make regarding your Retirement Account, we have provided access to a wide variety of pension know-hows.
Below are some useful guides and videos which you can read / watch in your own time to find out more information about pensions and your options in retirement.
If you have a query regarding your Retirement Account following any information given in the videos above, please contact the Hargreaves Lansdown Helpdesk via their website here.
The Baxi Group Pension Scheme Trustee cannot offer any financial advice, and neither can Buck, the Pensions Administrator. The Trustee is not responsible for the content of any external websites.
Glossary of Terms
There are a number of terms used on the website and some of them are defined below.
Annual Allowance
The Annual Allowance is a limit to the total amount of contributions that can be paid to money purchase (defined contribution) pension schemes and the total amount of benefits that you can build up in final salary (defined benefit) pension scheme (if you have one) each year, for tax relief purposes. For most people, the Annual Allowance is £60,000, but it may be lower if you are a very high earner. A high earner for these purposes is someone who earns over £200,000 a year. For more information about the Annual Allowance please visit The annual allowance for pension savings | MoneyHelper
Please see below for the definition of the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA).
Annual Management Charge
The annual management charge (AMC) is the standard base charge for being invested in a particular fund. It is usually a fixed percentage of the funds invested, but can change over time.
Annuity
A series of payments (like a pension, provided to you from an insurance company), made at stated intervals (usually monthly) during the remainder of your lifetime. The period of payment may be guaranteed if selected by you at the time of purchasing the annuity. You can choose whether you want your annuity to increase in payment (e.g. in line with inflation), and whether a pension should be paid to your spouse, civil partner or dependant on your death.
Basic Salary
Your basic annual salary at any time, excluding fluctuating emoluments such as overtime, shift pay, commission, bonus etc.
Benchmark
This is a yardstick against which the investment policy or performance of a fund manager can be compared.
BGPS
The Baxi Group Pension Scheme.
Company
Either your employer or the principal employer of the Scheme, Baxi Group Limited, depending on the context.
Dependant
Any individual the Trustee considers to be financially dependent on you.
Drawdown/Flexi Access Drawdown
A facility that allows you to take money out of your pension savings as and when required during retirement. It’s a bit like using your pension savings as a bank account. Drawdown allows the purchase of an annuity to be postponed until a later date, or forever, giving an income directly from the pension fund in the meantime.
Earnings Cap
This is the Scheme’s maximum earnings limit for calculating pension contributions and benefits. The limit is £157,800 for the 2020/21 tax year, and is normally increased each year in line with price inflation.
HMRC
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (formerly known as the Inland Revenue).
Investment Return
The amount by which your Retirement Account rises or falls due to investment income and changes in capital value. Investment return can be positive (if the value of your fund rises) or negative (if the value of your fund falls).
Membership
Your period of Company service as a member of the BGPS.
Money Purchase Annual Allowance
If you have flexibly accessed any of your pension savings from defined contribution (‘money purchase’) arrangements you might be subject to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA). This means you can pay up to £10,000 of contributions into your DC pension savings each tax year and you will receive full tax relief on it. This amount includes contributions made by your employer. If you go over this amount, you will be personally responsible for paying the tax due on any additional contributions.
You can find out more about the MPAA at: Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) – Money Advice Service
Normal Retirement Age
Age 65.
Pensionable Earnings
Your gross (PAYE) earnings, excluding any profit-related bonuses, benefits in-kind, cash alternatives paid instead of benefits-in-kind, other non-cash remuneration, and such other emoluments as the Company may specify to be non-pensionable. Pensionable Earnings are subject to the Earnings Cap.
Pensions Administrator
The organisation appointed by the Trustee to administer the Scheme on a day-to-day basis. This is currently Buck, and their contact details can be found under Contact us.
Retirement Account
The fund comprising both your and the Company’s contributions (including contributions paid through Smart Pensions), any AVCs you have paid and any transfers you have brought into the Scheme from previous pension arrangements, all invested on your behalf. Your Retirement Account is kept separate from all other assets of the BGPS.
Scheme
This is the defined contribution section of the BGPS (sometimes also known as the money purchase section).
Selected Retirement Age
The age at which you’re planning to retire and the age which is used in your Lifestyle strategy. If you don’t specifically tell us otherwise we will use age 65 as your Selected Retirement Age, therefore it is very important that you let us know if you do not plan to retire at this age.
Smart Pensions
This is the Company’s salary sacrifice arrangement relating to pension contributions. Where members participate in Smart Pensions, they do not pay contributions to the Scheme. Instead, the Company pays an amount equal to both its own contribution and the member’s contribution, and the member’s salary is reduced by an amount equal to his or her pension contributions. However, Smart Pensions does not apply to AVCs.
Transition Costs
The costs incurred when money is transferred from one investment fund to another. For instance, transition costs apply if you decide to change your investment strategy or if you transfer your Retirement Account to a different provider.
Total Expense Ratio
The Total Expense Ratio (TER) is equal to the AMC (the definition for AMC can be found at the beginning of this section) plus any additional charges incurred over the period, such as the fund’s custodian costs. The TER can vary slightly from day to day.
Trustee
The Trustee is in charge of the day-to-day running of the Scheme. It provides important, objective, oversight to ensure that Baxi members really are getting the best deal possible when it comes to their Pension Scheme.