Types of pensions

Retirement Bond

A Personal Retirement Bond (PRB) is a personal policy where you can transfer your pension fund if you leave a company pension scheme or if the pension scheme is being shut down. In other words, if you leave a pension scheme, you can bring your pension benefits with you by having the value of your fund invested in a bond.

The bond is set up by the Trustees of your company pension. They apply for the bond in your name but once it is set up it belongs to you and the Trustees have no further involvement in it. Even though the Trustees have to sign the application form, you can generally choose any retirement bond available in the market.

Once you have set up a PRB, the next step is choosing how best to invest the money you have. You can invest it in one or more of our range of unit-linked investment funds. There is a wide range of different assets, and varying degrees of risk, so we recommend you to ask help to your financial advisor to be sure to find a solution that works for you.

Once you’ve put money into a retirement bond you can’t withdraw it until you reach at least age 60. There are two exceptions to this:

• You can retire at any age due to ill health or

• If you have left service then you can access benefits from your Retirement Bond from age 50.