About Nest

What is Nest?

Nest is an online pension scheme that was set up by the government to make auto enrolment as simple as possible. Auto enrolment was introduced by the government in the Pensions Act of 2008. For more information please see About pensions.

Under the new rules, every employer will have to give their workers the opportunity to join a workplace pension scheme that meets certain standards. Workers that are enrolled into or join Nest become members.

Being a member of Nest means it’s easy to save and to do the things that can improve your outcome in later life.

You can use your online account to manage your investment options, change contribution levels and make one-off contributions. All messages we send you, including your annual statement are stored in a secure mailbox so that you’ve got a record of everything in one place. To see the benefits of setting up your online account please see Your account.

Why have I been enrolled into Nest?

Nest is a workplace pension scheme, which means most people join through their employer. Depending on how old they are and how much they earn, many workers will be automatically enrolled into the scheme. Auto enrolment means being enrolled into a workplace pension without having to ask. Other workers will be entitled to join the scheme if they want to. To find out more about auto enrolment please see What being enrolled means​?

Being enrolled makes it easier to start putting money aside for your future. You’ll also get extra money in your retirement pot from your employer and the government.

How much will be taken from my wages?

If you’ve been automatically enrolled then there are minimum levels for you and your employer to pay into your account, these are based on a percentage of your pay.

Your employer may have decided to contribute more than the minimum. If they do they’ll let you know when they tell you you’re being enrolled. If you’re unsure how much will be taken from your pay you can always check your pay slip or speak to your employer for more information.

If you’d like to see how much you’ll contribute from your pay please see Minimum contributions have changed. What do I need to do?

To see how much you can contribute please see Costs and contributions.

Once you know how much you and your employer are contributing you can work out how much you could take out at the end of your working life. To do this you can use the Pension calculator.

About Nest

Nest Corporation, the Trustee that runs the Nest scheme, is a public corporation. It’s accountable to Parliament through the Department for Work and Pensions but is generally independent of government in its day-to-day decisions.

Being a public body means that we have no owners or shareholders. As a Trustee, we run the scheme in the interests of our members.

For more information about the way that Nest is run, please see About Nest Corporation.