Welcome to The Heathrow DC Pension Plan

A pension is long-term savings plan that allows you to build an income for when you retire or want to work less. 

Your workplace pension is a defined contribution arrangement. You and your employer can contribute and there is also tax relief on your contributions from the Government. The money is invested and at retirement, your pot can be used to provide an income. Your retirement options are very flexible which allows you to pick what kind of income is right for you. Find out more here

There is a 'Your Key Features Document' and an 'Investment Choices Guide' to help you navigate everything you need to know about the Plan. Here you’ll find all the important information you need to help you decide whether the Plan is right for you.

These documents are quite detailed and cover, for example, the aims of the Plan, the risks involved and the investment choices available to you. We also let you know how you can access your pension savings when you decide to take them and give you some examples of what your pension might be worth. We have had to use a few technical words but we’ve provided explanations through the document.

It’s easy to become part of The Heathrow DC Pension Plan. In fact in most cases, it’s all done automatically to help you better prepare for your retirement. For more information, please visit our page explaining your workplace pension.

No. The Heathrow DC Pension Plan is not a final salary or 'defined benefit' (DB) arrangement. It is a 'defined contribution' (DC) plan. If you have a final salary/DB pension pension plan this is separate from The Heathrow DC Pension Plan, and you may like to find out more about DB pensions here

Your contributions are automatically invested for you in the Plan’s default option, which is FutureWise. If you wish, you can change this and choose your own investment choice by self-selecting investment funds from the range available in PlanViewer. You can also see the investment choices available in the Investment Choices guide here. Please remember, whether you use the Plan's default option or Self-select funds, the value of the investments can go down as well as up.

The default contribution structure for the Plan is that Heathrow will contribute 10% if you contribute 5% so if you don't set an alternative rate of contributions, a total of 15% will be paid into your pension.

You don't have to contribute at this level and can change it by contacting OneHR on 0800 561 6060 or onehr@heathrow.com.

There are two different contribution structures depending on whether or not you are a Fire Service colleague. For full details, please see your 'Contributions Explained' booklet here.

Yes – The annual allowance is a limit on how much you can save into your pensions each tax year while still benefiting from tax relief on your contributions, your employer's contributions and any contributions made on your behalf by someone else. Find out more about the annual allowance.

The lifetime allowance is set by the government to limit how much you can build up in pension benefits over your lifetime while still enjoying full tax benefits. We can help you understand more about how you can manage this allowance to maximise the tax efficiency of your pensions. Find out more about lifetime allowance.

The tapered annual allowance further limits the amount of tax relief high earners can claim on their pension contributions by reducing the annual allowance. Read more about how this might affect you and the steps you can take to make your contributions more tax-efficient. Find out about tapered annual allowance.

Once you begin taking taxable money from your pension savings using pension freedoms, generally you will be subject to a reduced annual allowance that limits the tax relief that you can receive on future contributions. Find out more about how and if this might affect you on our Money purchase annual allowance page.

The only costs you pay are the ongoing charges on the funds you are invested in, which apply to both the default, FutureWise, and Self-select options, and the transaction costs.

The ongoing fund charges include the annual management charges and other charges such as auditing and registry fees, which are combined into what’s called a total expense ratio (TER) for each fund. This is expressed as a percentage, which shows the amount you pay for the fund each year. For example, investment in a fund with a TER of 0.20% would mean a charge of £2 for each £1,000 invested a year.

Meanwhile, the transaction costs cover the costs involved in buying and selling a fund’s underlying investments.

They are all included in the unit price and for details of the amount and impact on The Heathrow DC Pension Plan, please visit our costs and charges page.

For specific costing information on the fund or funds you are invested in, please login to PlanViewer and refer to the fund factsheets.

Over your working life, you may build up savings in several pension pots. This could be through changing jobs, leaving employment or switching to a personal pension. When this happens you have different options to consider. For more information, please visit our page on moving pensions. It's important to understand that pension transfers are a complex area and may not be suitable for everyone.

If you leave your job, any contributions being paid into your workplace pension will stop. Your pension will remain invested until you’re ready to take your benefits (normally from age 55 onwards, although this may increase to age 57 in 2028). It will still be up to you to decide what you want to do with it in the meantime. Keep in mind that the value of investments can fall as well as rise.

You can leave your pension savings invested where they are or you can normally transfer them into any other UK-registered pension scheme. For more information please visit our page on transferring out.

Your retirement plan will depend on your age, when you want to retire and the type of retirement you want to enjoy. We can help you to understand what you might need to support the retirement you want; whether you’re on track for it; and what income options might suit you. For more information please visit Pension Wise (which is now part of MoneyHelper) and our planning for your retirement pages.

Our tools and calculators can help you work out how healthy your finances are today, and give you an idea of how much you may need to save for tomorrow. Find out all about planning for your retirement.

PlanViewer is your secure online pension account. You can view your account balance which is updated daily, and contributions paid in by you and your employer. You can also find information about the investments available on the fund factsheets, switch your investment choice and transfer pensions online, and view the latest versions of the Plan's literature. You can access it via desktop or the App.

Here's a list of five small steps that may help boost your savings and make your savings work even harder.

If you've not yet registered for PlanViewer, here's our registration guide that gives full details of how to do so.