If you are like most people, the State Pension is not going to be enough to support your lifestyle once you retire. The Stakeholder Pension was introduced in 2001 to serve as an alternative to traditional Personal Pensions, which sometimes caught people out with extra costs. The government introduced Stakeholder Pensions to further increase the incentive for people to save up for retirement.

Stakeholder Pensions are quite similar to Personal Pensions but are more specifically aimed at people on moderate incomes and supposed to be fairer than traditional Personal Pensions in terms of costs and the flexibility they provide

If you are like most people, less than £100 per week for most people from the state pension does not go very far. The Stakeholder Pension is another one of your options to supplement your state pension.

So with this in mind, it is important to note that HAVING A PERSONAL PENSION DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR ABILITY TO GET A STAKEHOLDER PENSION! The two simply complement each other. The Stakeholder Pension is a private pension.

Who are Stakeholder Pensions aimed at?

Stakeholder Pensions are usually aimed at people on moderate incomes up to about £20,000 per annum as an alternative to typical Personal Pensions. This is reflected in annual contribution limit which is set fairly low – see How much am I allowed to invest in a stakeholder scheme?

They are also particularly aimed at people who do not have access to Occupational Pension schemes provided by their companies.

See also is a Stakeholder Pension right for me.

Where can I get a Stakeholder Pension?

Like Personal Pensions, you can get Stakeholder Pensions from a variety of financial institutions including high street banks, insurance providers and of course pension companies (the most common source).