In order to get more people investing for their later life, starting from around 2012 the government created a system to get employers set up with pension schemes for their employees. Automatic Enrolment (Auto-Enrolment) means employers must 'enrol' employees into a pension scheme if they are eligible.
From 2018 most people should be part of a workplace pension scheme spurred by this drive. People can opt-out but must opt-out every three years to continue stopping pension contributions.
We have created the quick tool below to help deduce the payment made into a pension scheme via auto-enrolment, as well as estimating what kind of pension fund you could end up with as a result of making pension contributions.
The tool helps cut through figuring out the amount contributed, the amount of tax relief provided and factoring both employee and employer contributions.
If the calculator doesn't display correctly, please click here to refresh the page.
There are a number of caveats to auto-enrolment pensions including a minimum age, minimum income level as well as bands within which pension contribution percentages are based. These bands are the Lower and Upper Earnings Limits, otherwise known as Qualifying Earnings.
There is also a minimum contribution percentage, of the qualifying earnings, that must be paid into an auto-enrolled pension. The employer can either pay their minimum or all the required percentage. The employee must make up the difference as minimum.
From 2019 the minimum percentage an employer must pay is 3 percent. The total contribution must equal a minimum of 8 percent. An employee can contribute the difference, factoring in any tax relief.
