CCE Personal Pension Plan Newsletter

CCE Personal
Pension Plan
Newsletter
February 2014
Welcome to your
Winter Pensions
Newsletter!
Pensions are all about YOUR future and
where you want to be when you retire. We
hope you enjoy the information that we have
put together.
We would like to hear from you if you have
any comments about this newsletter or if
there is anything you would like to see in the
future edition. Please send all messages to
[email protected]. The aim
is to send out a pensions newsletter several
times a year.
Here’s what’s in this issue...
What’s on the Plan Website? - page 3
CCE Plan Membership / Make the Most of your Annual Allowance. - page 4
Retirement and Benefits - page 5
Pension Investments - page 6
Useful Information - page 7
3
What’s on the
Plan Website?
Competition
winners
Recap and reminder from the previous
Pension Newsletter
On the Standard Life website you’ll find lots of information
about pensions in general and our Plan in particular, but the
really useful things are the interactive tools that will help you see
how much income you may want in retirement and how much
you may need to save each month to get that income!
There’s a Retirement Tool which is a simple but effective, dragand-drop tool helping you understand the income you might
want in retirement.
Next is the Retirement Planner. This shows how much you may
need to save each month to get that income. More importantly,
this tool can take into account any existing savings and other
pensions you might have, to give a more complete illustration.
In addition, there’s a Risk Questionnaire. This asks 10 simple
questions and can help you understand what your attitude to
risk might be. It doesn’t tell you where to invest but could help
if you wanted to review and change your current investment
choices.
From the CCE intranet,
you can also access the
Contribution Calculator.
This can help you work out
how much you should save
now to help achieve the sort
of retirement you want later.
Pensions survey
results
The Pension survey results
indicated that many of
you think differently about
your financial situation and
are more informed about
your finances and that the
newsletter helps you better
understand your pension.
This is very positive news!
The most striking finding
was that 31% of responders
said they didn’t know who
to speak to or where to find
information about the CCE
Personal Pension Plan. So, as
a reminder, you will find full
Plan details on iConnect and
to access the Standard Life
Plan website log-on to:
www.standardlifepensions.
com/cokecce
We ran a pensions survey
in October last year and
the winners of the Autumn
Pension survey (Merlin
Entertainment tickets) were:
Vanessa Varney, Paul Cannon,
Steve Ward and Charles
Ebanks. Well-done to our
winners!
Make the Most
of your Annual
Allowance
CCE Plan
Membership
See how the Plan has grown
The Plan was established in 2005 and since then membership
has grown. In particular with Auto Enrolment last year,
membership has increased to 1766 CCE employees in the Plan.
Contributing
Members
2011
2012
The last working day of the current tax year is Friday 4 April
2014 and that’s the date you need to think about when it comes
to making the most of your tax-free allowances before you
lose them.
2013
Members
Fund
Members
Fund
Members
Fund
603
£9.6m
777
£14.4m
1766
£20.9m
What’s in it for you?
Over 90% of CCE Personal Pension Plan members have been
registered for Employeezone. If you have yet to visit the site,
or have not used it in a while, why not go and log-on to the site
now? You can access a wealth of information at your fingertips.
Employeezone is the secure area of the Plan website where you
can access your own personal pension account – it’s like online
banking but for pensions. It’s here that you can:
++
See what your plan is worth
++
See when your payments are made and how they are invested
++
Update your contact details and make changes to your plan such as
switching investments
++
Access your Ontrack tool. This tool shows how your actual plan
is doing against your retirement goals - automatically taking into
account how much you’re paying in and can include any savings
you have and other pension plans – showing what your retirement
pension pot is estimated to be.
During the first half of 2014, Employeezone will be enhanced to
make it easier for you to use and to improve what you can do.
So, what’s your tax
free annual allowance?
The annual allowance is the
maximum amount of pension
savings you can build up in a year that benefit from tax relief. If
you build up pension savings (includes all plans you may have)
worth more than the annual allowance, you’ll pay a tax charge
on the excess.
The annual allowance limit is currently £50,000 but this will go
down to £40,000 from 6 April 2014. The tax charge is paid on
any excess over the annual allowance limit, and the tax rate will
be the top rate of tax you pay.
When thinking about saving money tax-free, you have a number
of options. If you want to save for a short-term goal or have
money available should you need it, you could put any spare
money into an ISA. However, if you can afford to put money
away for longer and make the most of your tax-free allowance,
then perhaps making a one-off payment into your pension plan
could be the option for you.
For more details about your annual and lifetime allowances, visit
the Payment Options page of the Plan website. Also see the
tax notes on HeRe Online.
4
What else is
happening
with personal
allowances?
From 6 April 2014,
the maximum value
of pension savings
you can have
without paying
an additional
tax charge - the
Lifetime Allowance
- is being reduced
from £1.5m to
£1.25m. If you go
over that limit, you
could face a hefty
tax bill.
You might think
this won’t affect
you - but HMRC
figures suggest
that 360,000
people in the UK
may be affected
by this change. For
more information
about this, visit
the Standard Life
website or the
HMRC website.
Retirement
and Benefits
5
come up to retirement, they will get in touch with you in several ways to help you
plan your retirement:
++
Starting 10 years from when you plan to retire, you will get a home-addressed mailing
each year to start you thinking about what your retirement looks like and how you
might want to take your retirement income.
++
During those 10 years before you stop work, you and your partner may be invited to
one of Standard Life’s retirement roadshows. The roadshows are designed to help you
make an informed decision about your retirement and lasts for around 2 hours, split
into two sections
*
My family and peace of mind
*
My Finances
At the roadshow, you will also get the opportunity to book a face to face
meeting with a retirement specialist too.
Flexible Benefits window 2014
opens 26th February!
The Flexible Benefits window is your opportunity to think about
whether you want to change or increase your contributions to
the Plan. During enrolment, access the Flex window via HeRe!
Online @ iConnect, click Total Rewards from the “Do It Yourself
box” (on the right hand side of the screen) and select Flexible
Benefits. Make sure you are on the GB homepage.
Don’t forget - use the Retirement Planner tool to see how
putting a little more away could affect your pension pot. From
the autumn 2013 pensions survey, 50% of you surveyed had
opted not to change your contribution levels. Take the time now
to see if your contribution level is right for you.
Support from Standard Life as you retire
Standard Life supports you through your working years by
giving you all the information you need through the Plan
website, Employeezone and the annual statements, but as you
In 2014, there are around 100 CCE employees coming up for retirement. If you
are one of these people, look out for a roadshow invitation!
If you are coming up to retirement or have questions about your retirement
options, you can also call a Standard Life Retirement Specialist on:
0800 970 4136
(9am-7pm Mon-Thurs, 9am-6pm Fri. and 10am-1pm Sat.
Have your plan number ready).
Standard Life wants
to talk to you!
Standard Life are working on developing new ways to
communicate with members, to keep you better informed
and to further help you plan for the retirement you want.
From March 2014 CCE members who are aged 40 years and
over will receive at their home addresses, a pack containing
key information to help them plan for their financial future.
This could include consolidating your old pension pots
into your CCE Plan or perhaps looking at other savings,
like an ISA.
6
Pension
Investments
Is your investment choice still
the right one for you?
The investment options available to you come in a variety of flavours to suit most tastes:
++
The default option is for those who want a simple, lower risk option. The company has
chosen this, with the help of their advisers, because they believe it’s a good option for
most people in the company. Your money will stay invested in this option unless you
decide to change it.
++
If you’d like a bit more choice but not too much, the selected core fund range might
be right for you. They’re not a recommendation but they’ve been selected to help you
make your own choices more easily.
++
Not made with 23 flavours but an investment option with over 200 funds to choose
from. If you want more choice about where to invest your money, you can choose from
the full range of investment options.
It’s important that you regularly review your investment choice is still the right one for you. For
instance, if you’re saving for retirement and have a long way to go until your retirement date, your
focus may be on ‘growth’ – allowing you to take more risk, as you can ride out any short-term ups
and downs in the market. However, when you’re approaching retirement, your focus will likely
move towards consolidation and ensuring the
ups and downs don’t directly impact
your retirement income.
£$ £$
£$
CCE work closely with our adviser
Towers Watson to monitor and track the
performance of the two lifestyle funds
and the core funds for members.
To have another look at your
options in more detail or look at the
individual fund-fact sheets, visit the
Investment Options page on the
Plan website.
MoneyPlus Blog
website
In the autumn pension survey,
the website received very
favourable reviews and as it
continues to give relevant,
jargon-free information, we
think it is worth mentioning
again. Click here to get the
latest MoneyPlus Blog
7
Useful
Information
HOW TO... increase the amount you
contribute to your pension.
A helpful guide to frequently asked questions
You can change your contribution level at any time by visiting
the Total Rewards platform (HeRe! Online @ iConnect – click
on “Total Rewards” in the “Do-It-Yourself” box) or you can do
this during the annual Flexible Benefits window.
HOW TO... update who should receive any
benefits in the event of your death:
HOW TO... change where your contributions
are invested.
We’ve now made it easier for you to update your wishes using
some online-forms through Employeezone. There are two to
complete:
You can change your investments anytime through your
Employeezone login. Alternatively, you can contact Standard
Life on 0845 278 5643 Monday – Friday 9am-5pm. Ensure you
have your plan/membership number to hand.
++
To nominate a person to receive your pension benefits - Complete
an Instruction for Payment of Death Benefits form (for the Pension),
++
To nominate who you would like to receive the lump-sum life
insurance - The appropriate nomination form (for the CCE Life
which can be found on the CCE
pension website.
Assurance Scheme) can be obtained from the HR
HeRe! Online @ iConnect.
forms page at
If you are not sure whether you have filled in a nomination form,
or if your circumstances have changed, please call Standard Life
on 0845 278 5643 or the HeRe! Team and they can check for
you.
HOW TO... change your contact details
for your pension:
++
Contact HeRe! Team on 7007 from a CCE landline/CCE GB mobile
++
0808 1293132 from any landline/mobile
HOW TO... find out details of the pension you
might receive when you retire:
Visit www.employeezone.co.uk and select “Managing your
pension online” and follow the instructions or you can discuss
your retirement options with a Standard Life Retirement
Specialist on 0800 970 4136.
HOW TO... find answers to questions
about your pension.
You can access the CCE pension website or call Standard Life
on 0845 278 5643 or Pensions and Retirement Planning on
HeRe! Online @ iConnect.
HOW TO... find out more about pensions
in general.
There are a variety of websites offering general information
about pensions: www.gov.uk, The Pensions Advisory Service
– www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org and the Money Advice
Service – www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Check, Change, & Invest principle:
++
Check – the worth of your pension. Ask yourself, are you saving
enough?
++
Change – life changes, and so should your pension. Ask yourself,
could you save a little more?
++
Invest – time in your investments. Ask yourself, is this the right fund
for me at this time?

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