A business which employs five or more members of staff and offers no other qualifying pension arrangement is legally obliged to offer employees access to a
stakeholder pension.
To find out more information about
stakeholder pensions, visit www.unbiased.co.uk or call 0800 085 3250 to find an independent financial adviser.
You can make direct additional contributions to a
Stakeholder Pension Plan, as well as contributions to an AVC and/or FSAVC arrangement or a Personal Pension Plan.
"However, very few mums are taking advantage of the fact they, their spouse or someone else can pay into a
stakeholder pension in their name even if they aren't working."
Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly said
stakeholder pensions offered 'excellent value' for savers as the revised cap included the cost of basic advice for the first time.
You should choose a registered
stakeholder pension scheme or schemes from the list of registered pension schemes held by the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority.
``You need to be planning from the cradle to the grave and a
stakeholder pension can be taken out for a one-day-old baby.''
The government introduced
Stakeholder pensions to encourage those earning pounds 10,000 to pounds 20,000 a year to save for their retirement.
Meanwhile Marks and Spencer Financial Services estimates that 38% of firms with five to 20 employees failed to establish lowcost
stakeholder pension schemes for staff before the October 8 deadline.
From now on companies that do not offer staff access to a
stakeholder pension risk fines of up to pounds 50,000 unless they qualify for exemption.
Charlotte Parry reports on why
stakeholder pensions are failing to avert a crisis
A BIRMINGHAM MP has demanded that Chancellor Gordon Brown rethinks his
stakeholder pensions scheme - or face multi-million pound claims in a major mis-selling scam.