About this session
Retirement planning in the United Kingdom can involve several systems that look similar on a pension statement but work very differently. The State Pension is based on National Insurance history.
A defined benefit pension promises benefits through scheme rules. A defined contribution workplace or personal pension builds an invested pot.
Old workplace pensions, SIPPs, stakeholder pensions, salary sacrifice, guarantees, and different retirement-access rules can add further layers.
This session starts with the State Pension and National Insurance record.
Participants learn how to check their State Pension age and forecast, identify qualifying years and gaps, understand why pre-2016 and contracted-out history can complicate the simple '35 years' rule, and decide what questions should be answered before considering voluntary National Insurance contributions.
The next stages move through workplace and personal pensions.
Participants distinguish DB and DC schemes, understand automatic enrollment, employer contributions, salary sacrifice, fees and investment information, and then learn how to review personal pensions, SIPPs, lost pensions, guarantees, transfer rights, and consolidation questions.
The final stage covers pension access, the 2028 minimum-pension-age change, drawdown, annuities, lump sums, MPAA, current lump-sum allowances, beneficiary questions, and the 2027 pension Inheritance Tax reform.
Participants leave with a UK Retirement Review Checklist rather than a prescribed pension strategy.
What your people take away
- Understand how the State Pension and National Insurance record form one layer of UK retirement income
- Distinguish defined benefit and defined contribution workplace pensions and understand automatic enrollment, contributions, and salary sacrifice at a practical level
- Review personal pensions, SIPPs, old pensions, guarantees, fees, and transfer questions before considering consolidation
- Understand private-pension access, drawdown, annuities, lump sums, and MPAA without receiving a withdrawal recommendation
- Build one repeatable UK Retirement Review Checklist across State, workplace, and personal pensions
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What each length covers
30 minutes
30 Minutes — Key Points: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance RecordA focused 30-minute session on three key points from Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record: start with the official State Pension forecast, read qualifying years, credits & gaps correctly and understand why '35 years' is not a universal personal formula.
- Start with the official State Pension forecast
- Read qualifying years, credits & gaps correctly
- Understand why '35 years' is not a universal personal formula
Covers 3 of 4 points in Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record.
60 minutes
60 Minutes — Module 1: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance RecordStart with the public pension foundation. Participants check the difference between State Pension age and private-pension age, understand how the National Insurance record supports the new State Pension, review qualifying years and gaps, and learn why voluntary contributions should be considered only after checking the official forecast and record.
- Module 1: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record
- UK Retirement System Map
- State Pension Age & Forecast
- National Insurance Record Review
- Qualifying Years, Credits & Gaps
- Voluntary National Insurance Decision Questions
- Live Q&A
Covers 1 of 4 parts: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record.
90 minutes
90 Minutes — Modules 1 and 2: Understand State Pension & Workplace PensionsBuild on the State Pension foundation with workplace retirement. Participants distinguish DB and DC pensions, understand current automatic-enrollment rules, identify employer and employee contributions, review salary sacrifice where offered, and learn how pension statements, fees, investment information, beneficiaries, and retirement ages fit together.
- Module 1: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record
- Module 2: Understand Your Workplace Pension
- DB vs DC Pension Guide
- Automatic Enrollment & Contributions
- Salary Sacrifice Retirement Questions
- Workplace Pension Statement Review
- Live Q&A
Covers 2 of 4 parts: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record and Understand Your Workplace Pension.
3 hours
Covers 3 of 4 parts: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record, Understand Your Workplace Pension and Understand Personal Pensions, Old Pensions & Transfers.
Full day
Full Day — Complete UK Workplace & Personal Pensions WorkshopExplore all four modules with time for State Pension and National Insurance review, workplace-pension comparison, personal-pension and SIPP analysis, lost-pension and transfer scenarios, and retirement-access planning. Participants learn how State, workplace, and personal pensions fit together and leave with a UK Retirement Review Checklist rather than a prescribed contribution, investment, transfer, annuity, drawdown, or retirement strategy.
- Module 1: Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record
- Module 2: Understand Your Workplace Pension
- Module 3: Understand Personal Pensions, Old Pensions & Transfers
- Module 4: Prepare for Pension Access & Retirement Income
- State Pension forecast and NI record exercise
- DB vs DC pension scenarios
- Workplace contribution and statement review
- Personal pension and SIPP comparison
- Lost-pension and transfer review
- Pension-access and retirement-income options
- UK Retirement Review Checklist
- Live Q&A
Covers all 4 parts.
Also available as a 4-week or 8-week program, for change that lasts. Ask us about it.
What’s covered
Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record
Every length- Start with the official State Pension forecastParticipants learn that the State Pension is based on National Insurance history rather than an individual investment pot.
- Read qualifying years, credits & gaps correctlyParticipants learn how paid National Insurance contributions and qualifying credits can build the record and why a period outside paid work is not automatically a missing year.
- Understand why '35 years' is not a universal personal formulaParticipants learn that pre-2016 National Insurance history, Additional State Pension, and contracting out can affect the new State Pension starting amount.
- Understand State Pension age & deferral without searching for one best dateParticipants learn that State Pension age is currently moving from 66 to 67 according to birth cohort and is different from workplace or personal pension access ages.
Understand Your Workplace Pension
90 minutes and longer- Distinguish defined benefit from defined contributionParticipants compare DB pensions that promise benefits through scheme rules with DC pensions that build invested retirement pots.
- Understand automatic enrollment without assuming the minimum is your schemeParticipants learn the current automatic-enrollment framework, including age, earnings, employer-contribution, and employee-contribution concepts.
- Read contributions, salary sacrifice & employer valueParticipants identify employee contributions, employer contributions, matching or tiered employer arrangements where offered, and pension salary sacrifice where the employer uses it.
- Review fees, investments, beneficiaries & retirement ageParticipants learn how to locate charges, investment funds, default strategy, projected values, beneficiaries or expression-of-wish information, and scheme retirement age.
Understand Personal Pensions, Old Pensions & Transfers
3 hours and longer- Build the pension inventory before thinking about consolidationParticipants identify preserved workplace pensions, personal pensions, stakeholder pensions, SIPPs, and other pension contracts and record the provider, pension type, value, access age, charges, investments, beneficiaries, guarantees, and current contact information.
- Understand SIPP & personal-pension structuresParticipants learn that personal pensions and SIPPs are generally defined contribution arrangements but can differ materially in provider services, investment choice, charges, product complexity, and contractual rights.
- Identify guarantees & safeguarded rights before transferringParticipants learn why guaranteed annuity rates, protected pension ages, protected tax-free cash, DB benefits, and other safeguarded rights should be identified before any pension transfer.
- Separate finding, consolidating & transferringFinding an old pension, combining administrative records, and legally transferring pension assets are different actions.
Prepare for Pension Access & Retirement Income
Full day only- Separate State Pension age, scheme age & normal minimum pension ageParticipants learn that State Pension age, a DB scheme's normal pension age, and the tax-law normal minimum pension age are different.
- Understand the main DC pension-freedom optionsParticipants compare leaving a pension invested, permitted tax-free cash, flexi-access drawdown, cash withdrawals, annuities, and combinations of those options.
- Distinguish DB income, drawdown & annuity incomeParticipants compare guaranteed or formula-based DB pension income, insurer-backed annuity income, and invested drawdown income through longevity, inflation, flexibility, investment risk, survivor benefits, fees, and reversibility without selecting one retirement-income route.
- Build the retirement-income, beneficiary & future-rule reviewParticipants bring State Pension, workplace pensions, personal pensions, cash, other savings, employment income, beneficiaries, healthcare, inflation, and longevity into one review.
Tools and materials
- UK Retirement System Map
- UK Pension Terminology Guide
- State Pension Forecast Review
- National Insurance Record Checklist
- Voluntary NI Decision Questions
- State Pension Age & Claiming Guide
- DB vs DC Pension Guide
- Automatic Enrollment Map
- Employer Pension Value Checklist
- Pension Contribution & Employer Value Map
- Salary Sacrifice Retirement Questions
- Pension Fees & Investment Review
- Workplace Pension Statement Review
- Personal Pension & SIPP Comparison
- Pension Inventory & Tracing Guide
How booking works
- Book online. Create a free Workbliss profile, then pay with session credits, by card or by invoice.
- Pick a date. Choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or book now and set the date later.
- Choose your expert. Within 3 working days, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date.
- We deliver it. Your expert is briefed on your people and goals, then runs the session live online or at your site.
Questions about Retirement Planning - United Kingdom: Workplace and Personal Pensions
How long is Retirement Planning - United Kingdom: Workplace and Personal Pensions?
Retirement Planning - United Kingdom: Workplace and Personal Pensions runs as 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 3 hours or full day. You choose the length when you book. A 30-minute session covers three key points from Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record: start with the official State Pension forecast, read qualifying years, credits & gaps correctly and understand why '35 years' is not a universal personal formula. A 60-minute session covers Understand Your State Pension & National Insurance Record in full, with a live Q&A. A 90-minute session adds Understand Your Workplace Pension. A 3-hour session adds Understand Personal Pensions, Old Pensions & Transfers. A full-day session adds Prepare for Pension Access & Retirement Income. It is also available as a 4-week or 8-week program.
Can Retirement Planning - United Kingdom: Workplace and Personal Pensions be delivered online or in person?
Yes, both. It runs live online, so every office can join at the same time, or in person at your site, in any country.
How do we book Retirement Planning - United Kingdom: Workplace and Personal Pensions?
Create a free Workbliss profile with your work email, then open Retirement Planning - United Kingdom: Workplace and Personal Pensions to see the price for each length and book it. You can pay with session credits, by card or by invoice, and choose a date at least 14 days ahead, or set it later.
Who leads the session?
A vetted Workbliss expert, briefed on your people, culture and goals before the session. After you book, we send you profiles of the experts available for your date within 3 working days, so you can choose who leads it.
Can it be tailored to our company?
Yes. Every session is shaped around your goals, your people and the benefits you already offer, and delivered by experts in your people’s languages.