Pension FAQs
Get answers to common questions about your plan and pensions in general.
Pension FAQs
Get answers to common questions about your plan and pensions in general.
FAQs
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In March 2025, abrdn plc announced a name change to Aberdeen Group plc. As a result, from 1 July 2025 the abrdn (SLSPS) Pension Scheme changed to the Aberdeen Group Pension Scheme.
Over the next 12 months, you will see this change reflected in Scheme documentation, Scheme website and online materials. Rest assured, there are no changes to your Scheme benefits - it's business as usual.
If you joined the Scheme on or after 1 April 2025, please visit the new member website to find out more.
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When Standard Life Aberdeen plc (now Aberdeen Group plc) sold Standard Life Assurance Limited to Phoenix in 2018, it was agreed that the Scheme would remain with Standard Life Aberdeen (now known as Aberdeen Group plc). The Scheme’s current participating employers are all within Aberdeen Group plc and those employers have the legal obligations and financial commitment to support it. The Scheme’s new name reflects this.
Scheme name change
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The Trustee of the Aberdeen Group Pension Scheme has a responsibility to provide you with information in relation to Scheme investments including a copy of the Scheme’s Statement of Investment Principles, a statement detailing how the Trustee has complied with these Principles each year as well as details of costs and charges for DC members.
You can find all of this information via this page.
Scheme documents
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By default, the money in your pension savings will be invested in the low-involvement option: abrdn DC Core Lifestyle Profile. This has been chosen by Aberdeen as a good option for most people in the company.
You can choose from a range of investment options if you want to change from the low-involvement option. The right option for you will depend on various factors, such as your circumstances, experience of investing and attitude to risk.
Please visit the new member website to find out more.
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You can check the value of your DC investments via the Standard Life dashboard online.
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You can change your DC investments via the Standard Life dashboard online
DC investment options
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DB pension benefits
Depending on when you joined the Scheme, and what option your chose in 2008, you may have built up a DB pension. This means that when you reach your Normal Pension Age (NPA), which for the Scheme is 60 (you may have a different NPA is you joined the Scheme prior to 1982), you will receive a pension payable for life.
Your pension is broadly worked out using your years of ‘pensionable service’ and your ‘pensionable salary’. The period over which your pensionable service and pensionable salary is measured also depends on when you joined the Scheme and what options you chose in 2008. Pensionable service for the purposes of the DB pension benefits ceased with effect from 16 April 2016 for all members.
You can obtain a projection of your DB pension to any age from 50 by using Aptia OneView, subject to exclusions.
Aptia will have to calculate it for you if you want a formal quote. Any DB pension figure is stated as an annual amount and is subject to income tax.
DC pension savings
Since April 2016, you and the Company may have paid regular DC contributions into the Scheme. Depending on the option you chose in 2008, the Company may have paid contributions since 2008 and you may also have paid DC Additional Voluntary Contributions (DC AVCs) into the Scheme.
If you have DC pension savings in the Scheme, the value will change in line with daily fund price fluctuations. The value at retirement is not guaranteed. The value at retirement depends on how much you pay into your pension, where your money is invested and how it performs and how long you’re invested.
You can manage your DC investments online via the Standard Life dashboard or by downloading the Standard Life app. Information about the investment options are provided in the DC - Investment Guides:
Your DC pension guide - (for members who joined before 1 April 2025)
Your DC pension guide - (for members who joined after 1 April 2025)
You can view the value of your DC pension savings via the Standard Life dashboard or app. DC projections can also be obtained from Aptia, but please note that your projection will be subject to price changes until you settle your benefits. Therefore, even the value provided to you in a formal quote will not be guaranteed.
Examples of how you can use your DC either in isolation or in conjunction with your DB at retirement (or at transfer) are provided in the Retirement Guide.
Pension income levels at retirement
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As of 16 April 2016, the Scheme closed to future DB service accrual. If you are an active DC pension member, you can change the contributions which are paid in and potentially improve the benefits available to you at retirement.
Further information on contributions can be found on the new member website.
Further information on how to boost your DC pension can be found on the new member website.
It's important to routinely check whether your pension contributions and investments are on track to give you the income you want in retirement - if there's a shortfall you need to look at ways of boosting your savings.
Depending on your taxable income, most people are eligible to get tax relief on pension savings of up to the Annual Allowance, so it may be worth topping up your pension contributions when you can afford it. More information on pension savings allowances can be found in the ‘Pension Allowances’ section of the FAQ.
Boosting your pension
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The Lifetime Allowance was the total value of pension benefits you could build up throughout your lifetime and generally receive up to 25% tax-free. This limit was £1,073,100 for most people.
From 6 April 2024, the Lifetime Allowance was removed. This doesn’t mean there are no limits on the amount of pension savings people can take tax-free; the Lifetime Allowance has been replaced by new allowances that act similarly.
More information can be found on the Pension lump sum allowances website.
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There are various types of Protection that HMRC have made available, however you can now only apply for Individual Protection 2016 and Fixed Protection 2016 - more information on these can be found on the government's website.
If you have any of the Protections, it is important that you provide Aptia with a copy of the certificate so that they can consider it when you access your benefits.
You may be able to opt-out of accruing benefits to mitigate the risk of attracting an Annual Allowance charge.
To opt-out of the Aberdeen Group Pension Scheme please contact your Employer, but we recommend speaking to your financial adviser before doing this.
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If you are a pension member who was transferred from the abrdn Group Flexible Retirement Plan to the Aberdeen Group Pension Scheme on 1 April 2025, please contact Standard Life on 0800 587 0094.
If you joined the Scheme after 1 April 2025, you can find out how much you have paid in via the Standard Life dashboard or mobile app, by sending Standard Life a secure message or by ringing Standard Life on 0800 587 0094.
If you joined the Scheme before 1 April 2025, please contact Aptia on 0330 100 3491.
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The Annual Allowance is the total payments that you, your employer and any third party (excluding transfer payments) can make across all your DC pension plans in any one tax year before being subject to a tax charge plus in some circumstances it includes the amount by which any DB savings grow.
Read more information about tax relief, limits and your pension.
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High earners may see a reduction in their standard Annual Allowance. A ‘tapered’ Annual Allowance may apply, depending on your total income in a tax year.
Read more information about tax relief, limits and your pension.
We recommend you speak to your tax adviser to establish your threshold and adjusted income as the calculation of these is not straightforward. For more details see gov.uk.
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The Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) applies to anyone who has taken their pension benefits ‘flexibly’. This includes withdrawals from a drawdown arrangement or payment of an Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sum (UFPLS).
Read more information about tax relief, limits and your pension.
For more information on the MPAA please see the government guidance.
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If you are an active member of the Scheme you could be accruing saving in one or more of the following ways:
- You could be receiving DC contributions into the Scheme
- If you elected to retain salary linkage in the calculation of your DB benefits from 1 January 2008, and the effect of your salary increase exceeds the increase stipulated by legislation (the increase in CPI) in any given tax year
- If you elected to sacrifice salary linkage in the calculation of your DB benefits from 1 January 2008 in exchange for Career Average Revalued Earnings accrual, your revalued DB pension may also exceed the increase stipulated by legislation
These accruals could trigger an Annual Allowance charge if they cause you to breach the limits described above. Between July and September every year, Aptia will send you a Pension Input Statement that illustrates the contributions received for your DC pension on your behalf, and/or the increase in you DB pension benefits over the previous tax year. You may be able to temporarily opt-out of accruing benefits to mitigate the risk of attracting an Annual Allowance charge. If you do attract a charge, you may be able to ask the Scheme to pay the charge from your Scheme benefits (Scheme Pays).
To opt-out of the Scheme please contact your Employer, but we recommend speaking to your financial adviser before doing this
For more information on Scheme Pays see the FAQ section below and contact Aptia.
Pension allowances
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Reviewing your target retirement age is crucial because it could influence where you are invested, particularly if you are invested in a DC lifestyle profile, your contribution levels and expected retirement income. As your circumstances, goals, or market conditions change, adjusting your retirement age could ensure your pension remains aligned with your financial needs and risk tolerance.
We recommend you seek appropriate guidance or advice to understand the impact. From age 50 you can get free impartial guidance from Pension Wise – a service from MoneyHelper.
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Your Normal Retirement Age in the Scheme is 60.
You may, if you want to, retirement at any time after age 55 (or 50 in some cases depending on when you joined the Scheme) and take your Scheme pension. But, if you do this, your pension will be reduced because it is being paid early (and could potentially be paid for longer).
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You can normally access the money in your pension savings from age 55 (rising to 57 from 6 April 2028).
Read more about this along with the options for taking your money here.
Retirement age
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Scheme Pays is a process which allows you to pay your annual allowance tax charge, if applicable, from a pension scheme. Instead of you paying the charge directly, the Scheme pays the annual allowance tax charge to HMRC on your behalf and the corresponding value is deducted from your pension benefits. If you are an active member, Aptia will provide you with a Pension Input Statement each year and a link to HMRC’s Annual Allowance calculator. You are eligible to use Scheme Pays if the charge is at least £2,000 and you have at least the value of the charge in benefits held in the Aberdeen Group Pension Scheme at the time of payment.
To use the Scheme Pays facility, or for more information, please contact Aptia at SLSPSPensions@aptia-uk.com or by calling 0345 600 0229.
Scheme Pays
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Yes, you can do a single partial transfer of your DC pension savings out of the Scheme in any 12-month period.
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If you are an active DC member, you must leave at least £40 in your DC pension pot on transfer. Any DC savings remaining will continue to be invested in line with your investment choices and future contributions will continue to be added to your pot.
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You can log on the Aptia OneView site and get an indicative transfer value figure or your DB pension benefits at any time.
Aptia OneView also has details of the current value of your DB pension savings. This is just an illustrative figure and is not a formal Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) quote. There are no restrictions on how often you can access OneView for an indicative transfer value figure.
If you want a statutory formal guaranteed CETV quote for your DB pension benefits, then you need to contact Aptia on 0330 100 3491 or by email at: SLSPSPensions@aptia-uk.com to request this. Your adviser will need the formal guaranteed CETV quote before they can give you advice.
Please note that, in line with statutory requirements, you are only entitled to one guaranteed CETV quote in any 12-month period.
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Before requesting a quote, it is important to know who administers your DC pension savings:
If you joined the Scheme after 16 April 2016 and before 1 April 2025, your DC pension savings are administered by Aptia.
- To view your DC transfer value, log into the Standard Life dashboard or the mobile app. Alternatively, please contact Aptia on 0330 100 3491 or by email at: SLSPSPensions@aptia-uk.com.
If you joined the Scheme on after 1 April 2025, your DC pension savings are administered by Standard Life.
- To view your DC transfer value, log into the Standard Life dashboard or the mobile app. Alternatively, please contact Standard Life on 0800 587 0094
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If you have elected to aggregate your DB and DC savings to calculate the maximum cash, you may have DC in excess of the tax-free amount remaining.
Your options are to take the excess as an Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sum (UFPLS), use it to buy an annuity or to transfer it to another arrangement that allows you to "drawdown" on your DC savings.
If you take your tax-free amount from your DC savings and your DB benefits separately, then your options in relation to your excess DC cash are to take it as an UFPLS, use it to purchase an annuity or transfer it another arrangement that allows you to “drawdown” on your DC savings.
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Depending on when you joined the Scheme, you may have a right to take early retirement from the Scheme at age 50, instead of the normal minimum age of 55. Members with a protected early retirement age of 50 can take their retirement benefits from age 50 from the Scheme. Members without a protected early retirement age can take their retirement benefits from age 55 from the Scheme, which is the current normal minimum pension age for HMRC purposes.
If you have a protected early retirement age, this will usually be lost if you transfer your benefits out of the Scheme. However, if you and at least one other member of the Scheme transfer your benefits to the same receiving scheme at the same time, and certain requirements imposed by HMRC are met, HMRC has confirmed to the Scheme that the protected early retirement age will not be lost as a result of the transfer.
This would mean it may be possible for you to take your retirement benefits from age 50 in the receiving scheme, provided the rules of the receiving scheme allow that to happen.
This is known as a ‘buddy transfer’. The other transferring member does not need to have a protected early retirement age. Please ensure that you ask your financial adviser and the receiving scheme to confirm that you will be able to take your retirement benefits from age 50.
If you intend to transact on a “buddy transfer basis” you and the other member must each complete the Scheme’s block transfer agreement, which is enclosed with your transfer pack, and return this with your ‘application to process with transfer of benefits’ form.
If you have agreed with more than one other member of the Scheme that you will transfer your benefits to the same receiving scheme at the same time, please contact Aptia to request a block transfer agreement suitable for use where there are more than two members involved.
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The statutory requirement on the Scheme is to permit one guaranteed Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) in any 12-month period. The Scheme’s policy adopts this approach. The two main reasons for doing so are risk for the remaining members and administrative demands.
The Trustee has to balance the interests of all 16,000 members of the Scheme. Offering a guaranteed CETV means that the departing member is immune from movements in financial markets and that risk is passed to the Scheme (for the duration of the guarantee). This could affect the security available to protect the benefits of those who remain.
In addition, processing transfers is complex and there is a risk of delays in the processing of important transactions for other members such as deaths, retirements and pension increases.
The Trustee has therefore decided that the policy gives transferring members their statutory right to leave the Scheme but in a way which protects the interests of other members.
The Trustee do have discretion in individual cases to permit members to have more than one guaranteed CETV in a 12-month period. They will normally only do so in cases where the member’s circumstances have changed in an unforeseen way, for example if they are made redundant by Standard Life.
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No, you can transfer your DB and DC elements separately, if you want to.
Indeed, the Trustee has decided to make the process even more flexible – so you can now choose a ‘partial transfer’, and move your DB and/or DC benefits in stages, if you want to.
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If your DB pension benefits in the Scheme relate to service between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997, part of your pension entitlement may include a right to a GMP.
You may have seen in the press that a High Court decision in October 2018 partly clarified how overall pension scheme benefits should be calculated where members have accrued a GMP between those dates. On 20 November 2020, the High Court further ruled that the duty to equalise for the unequal effect of GMPs also applies to DB transfer values
Following these High Court rulings, the Trustee has adjusted its CETV basis so that DB transfer value quotations and payments are calculated on a basis which satisfies the requirement to equalise for the unequal effect of GMPs.
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You have a statutory right to request a transfer of your DC pension savings at any time before you retire.
You are only entitled to a statutory transfer of your DB pension benefits up to one year before reaching normal retirement age.
However, the Trustee has decided to treat DC and DB benefits in the same way under the Scheme. This means you can apply to transfer your DB benefits at any time before you actually come to draw your pension (even if you are over age 60, providing your pension hasn’t been put into payment). This is what is called a non-statutory transfer.
Transferring out of the Scheme
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Unbiased
Unbiased is the UKs largest selection of financial advisers. All advisers listed on this site are qualified and regulated by the FCA.
Website: www.unbiased.co.uk
The Money Advice Service
The Money Advice Service is an independent service set up by the Government to provide a range of information about consumer finances, including obtaining independent financial advice.
The Money Advice Service also has a directory of financial advisers that specialise in providing advice about retirement. You can use this directory to search for advisers who are pension transfer specialists. You can also search by postcode.
Website: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Phone: 0300 500 5000 (call rates may vary)
MoneyHelper
MoneyHelper is the public branding of the UK Government's Money & Pensions Service ("MaPS"). It is a useful resource which offers guidance and tools to help with all aspects of financial planning including budgeting, debt management, workplace benefits and savings products including pensions. MoneyHelper can assist with general queries and also help you understand the flexible ways in which you can access benefits.
The MoneyHelper website is at www.moneyhelper.org.uk
For money advice call MoneyHelper free on 0800 138 7777 or +44 20 3553 2279 from overseas (charges apply)
For pensions advice call MoneyHelper free on 0800 011 3797 or +44 20 7932 5780 from overseas (charges apply).
Pension Wise
If you are over 50 you can arrange a free consultation with a MoneyHelper expert to help you understand your pension options. These experts provide an impartial one to one service called Pension Wise which can be contacted via the MoneyHelper website or by calling 0800 138 3944 (+44 20 3733 3495 from overseas).
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Pensions UK has launched a set of Retirement Living Standards, to help people picture and achieve the level of income and standard of living they want when they retire, and the associated cost. These Retirement Living Standards can be found at https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk.
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The pension calculator will help you learn if your pension savings are on track for the lifestyle you want after you stop working.
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The charge comparison tool allows you to see an illustration of how your Standard Life pension charge compares with other providers.
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The retirement budget tool allows you to build your retirement budget using the Retirement Living Standards as a framework.
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The retirement options tool allows you to see your income and explore your options.
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The mixed income builder tool helps you calculate your personal income in retirement and find out if you'll have enough to meet your basic needs.
Help and support
Warning from the Trustee – Pension Scams
Unfortunately, pension scamming or 'pensions liberation' has become a prominent risk to the public. Millions of pounds of pensions are lost from lifetime savings every year to organisations or individuals who target members of the public with the intention of defrauding them, with the Pensions Regulator and FCA highlighting the average victim loses £91,000 each.
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Common characteristics of this kind of fraud include:
- 'Cold calling' or contacting you out of the blue to discuss your pension and savings.
- Offering you investment returns which can't be bettered anywhere else.
- Offering you the chance to access your savings earlier than you could do in the Scheme, or more immediate tax-free cash than you could obtain from the Scheme. This is a breach of HMRC rules and could lead to significant tax charges.
If you are considering transferring your benefits out of the Scheme, you should follow these four simple steps recommended by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator to keep your pension safe:
Step 1 - Reject unexpected offers
If you're contacted out of the blue about a pension opportunity, chances are it's a scam. Pension cold calling is illegal, and you should be very wary. An offer of a free pension review from a firm you've not dealt with before is probably a scam.
Step 2 - Check who you're dealing with
Search ScamSmart and check the FCA's register to make sure anyone offering you advice is authorised. If they are, check they're permitted to give pension advice by calling the FCA Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.
If you don't use an FCA-authorised firm, you risk not having access to compensation schemes.
Step 3 - Don't be rushed or pressured
Take your time to make all the checks you need – even if this means turning down what seems to be an 'amazing deal'.
Step 4 - Get impartial information or advice
You should seriously consider seeking financial advice before changing your pension arrangements. Where you are seeking to transfer more than £30,000 from the Scheme, you must obtain this advice.
Consider using MoneyHelper which provides free independent and impartial information and guidance.
The Trustee performs a high level of due diligence on every request to transfer out. However, scammers are increasingly sophisticated and hard to spot, and we cannot reject your statutory right to transfer if all legal requirements appear to be met. You must be sure of the intentions of the parties involved in your transfer before you proceed and follow the steps above to keep your pension safe.
If you suspect a pension scam, you should report it by calling Police Scotland by dialling 101. If you live elsewhere in the UK contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use their online reporting tool at www.actionfraud.police.uk.
The Scamsmart campaign aims to educate the public on the threat of fraud and offers a number of useful self-help resources.
Be ScamSmart with your pension. To find out more, visit www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart.
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