Group personal pension

Every employer, if they have five or more members of staff, must provide a pension facility for their employees. In most cases this comes in the form of an occupational pension scheme which is a large plan set up by the employer for their employees to which they contribute and pay costs.

However, if there's no occupational scheme the employer must either refer their staff to a stakeholder pension scheme or they can offer access to a group personal pension (GPP) scheme.

GPPs are arranged by a pension company, such as a bank or life insurance firm. The employer chooses a scheme they think will suit their staff. The difference between group personal pension plans and individual personal pension is that, because a number of people's pensions are run together, charges are lower. This means more of the pension-holders' money can be invested and then received at retirement.

They have the same rules as personal pension plans and therefore enjoy the same tax benefits. This means you do not pay income tax on the contributions you make and so the 22 per cent of your pension contribution that would usually go to the Inland Revenue is put into the pension pot.

	Lloyds Banking Group fined £4.3m by FSA for PPI payment delays The regulator, the Financial Services Authority has fined Lloyds Banking Group £4.3 million for delays in making payouts to customers due payment protection insurance compensation.
	Personal pension contributions fall by £2billion in recession New research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that less people are saving for their pension as a result of increased pressure on their finances in the recession.
	Tesco Bank cuts personal loan rates Tesco Bank has cut personal loan rates across three sectors of the market raising its position in the best-buy tables.
	One in seven to rely on state pension in retirement Prudential reveals 14 per cent of Brits have yet to grasp the importance of saving a pension and are relying on the state pension to fund their retirement.
	Pension charges to be banned under auto-enrolment The government has announced an outright ban on pension consultancy charges under auto-enrolment and is consulting on a cap on defined contribution scheme charges.