Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

How much your account costs depends on whether you hold funds or shares, and how frequently you deal.

When you buy or sell an investment you’ll pay a dealing charge. You’ll also pay an account charge for holding an investment. Dealing and account charges differ for funds and shares.

You can see an example of the charges you'll pay in a year, based on a starting portfolio of £50,000 further up on this page. Bear in mind this example is for illustration purposes, and doesn't cover all circumstances or charges. You can see our list of SIPP charges and rates for full details.

No, you can’t normally access the money in your SIPP account until age 55. The minimum retirement age will rise to 57 in 2028. After that, it will rise in line with the state pension age – staying 10 years below it. So, if the state pension age rises to 68, the minimum retirement age will be 58.

The government's Pension Wise service also offers free, impartial guidance to help you understand the options at retirement. You can access it online or by telephone on either 0800 138 3944, or +44 20 3733 3495 if you live outside the UK, between 8am – 8pm, Monday to Friday. If you're unsure if a SIPP is right for you, you should speak to a financial adviser.

If you die, your SIPP can be passed onto your beneficiaries. You can tell us who you would like to inherit your SIPP when you open your account. Or you can do it later by visiting the 'My account' area. You can nominate a number of different people, trusts and/or charities, choosing the percentage they’ll each receive.

As the scheme administrator of your SIPP, AJ Bell has discretion over how your pension is passed on. However, it's rare that nominations aren't followed. Usually, this only happens if there's been a change of circumstances (for instance, a divorce), and your wishes haven't been updated.

Yes, they can. Employer contributions are paid gross, i.e. without tax being deducted first.

Your employer can pay into your SIPP by cheque, Direct Debit or BACS.

Each time your employer makes a single contribution to your SIPP, you'll need to send us a completed SIPP additional contribution form. If you want your employer to make a payment by BACS, you can send us a secure message from within your account, asking for our bank details.

If you want your employer to make regular payments to your SIPP by Direct Debit, you’ll need to ask them to complete a SIPP employer Direct Debit form and send it to us.

Yes, you can transfer most types of UK pensions into a SIPP. We won’t charge you for the transfer.

To start the transfer, you’ll need to open a SIPP with us. It takes less than ten minutes, and you can do it online. During the application, you’ll be able to enter the details of the pension(s) you want to transfer.

Before transferring a pension to us, it’s important to consider the following:

• Can the investments in your pension be held in an AJ Bell SIPP? You can check what you can transfer to us on our investment options page.
• If you sell your investments so you can transfer in cash, you'll be out of the market while the transfer takes place. That means you won't be affected by any rises or falls.
• If you’re transferring a different type of pension scheme into a SIPP – such as an occupational pension – you may lose valuable benefits. We suggest you seek professional advice to ensure that transferring is right for you.
• If you know your life expectancy is two years, transferring a pension may make it subject to inheritance tax. Please take financial advice if you think this might apply to you.

If you'd like financial advice, you can search for a suitably qualified adviser on websites including VouchedFor.co.uk, moneyhelper.org.uk and Unbiased.co.uk

The annual allowance for most people is £60,000. If your total pension contributions – including any your employer makes – exceed your annual allowance, you’ll be subject to a tax charge. This is known as the annual allowance charge (AAC).