Work changes

There are lots of things to sort out when you leave a job and thinking about your pension pot is important. Knowing what happens to your pot and the choices available to you helps put you in control of your financial future.

What happens to my Nest pension pot?

After leaving your job we’ll carry on looking after your pot and you’ll still benefit from being a Nest member.

You keep your pot

Your pension pot doesn’t belong to your employer, it belongs to you. The money in it is yours, and you can always keep track of it from your online Nest account.

Your Nest pot is yours for life

Over 900,000 employers use Nest as their pension provider. If you work for one of them in the future and join Nest again, you’ll simply pay into the same pot.

If your circumstances change and you become self-employed, you can use the same pot too.

Your savings are safe

Our team of award-winning experts still look after your money carefully and put it to work, to try to grow it. That means investing it in different things around the world we think will increase in value and boost your pot.

You’re in safe hands - Nest is recognised in the industry for helping your money to grow while taking as little risk with it as possible.

Your money keeps doing good

Your pot will still be invested in businesses and projects likely to make you profits and benefit society, like windfarms and social housing schemes. It’s all part of our goal to give you a bigger pension in a better world.

Your charges stay low

You will pay an annual management charge of 0.3% on the balance of your pot - that’s less than most other providers will charge you.

What do I need to do?

You don’t need to do anything to leave your pot with us. But you should log in to your Nest account and check your contact details are up to date, so we can stay in touch about your money.

If you’ve not logged in before, you’ll have to activate your account first. It’s simple – you’ll just need your National Insurance number or Nest ID to hand.

Any final contributions will be made into your pot shortly after you get paid for the last time. Your employer will let us know that you’ve left.

What can I do with my pot?

When you leave your job you’re in control of your pot and you can choose what to do with it from a number of options.

Leave it with us

You can simply leave your pot where it is. We’ll keep working to grow it until you’re ready to take money out at retirement.

Just remember – whenever your contact details change, you should log in and update them.

Keep contributing

If you want to carry on paying into your Nest pension pot, you can.

From your online account you can set up regular contributions by Direct Debit, and make single lump sum payments. If you’re eligible, the government will still top-up your pot with tax relief.

You’ll pay our 1.8% contribution charge on any new contributions you make.

Combine your pension pots

The average UK worker has 11 jobs in their lifetime – that could mean 11 pots to manage. Why not transfer your other pots to Nest and keep track of your retirement savings in one easy-to-use account?

Transfer to another provider

You can transfer your pot away from Nest, but check you’re getting a good deal first. Find out how much a new provider will charge you and how its funds perform compared to Nest’s. Our four-point transfer checklist can help.

Access your money

If you’re over 55, you can take money out of your pot. It’s important you understand all your options – this includes giving us more time to try to grow your pot, so your savings last longer.

The government-backed Pension Wise service provides free and independent guidance that can help you make a decision.