How the pandemic has affected your pension scheme

It’s time to review the effect of Covid-19 on your retirement savings and take any necessary action.

Rishi Sunak © Comic Relief/BBC Children in Need/Comic Relief via Getty Images
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is contemplating ending the triple-lock guarantee © Getty
(Image credit: Rishi Sunak © Comic Relief/BBC Children in Need/Comic Relief via Getty Images)

Britain is gradually returning to work, so this is a sensible time to review the effect of Covid-19 on your pension planning. Firstly, if you’re a member of a defined-benefit occupational pension scheme, is the employer that stands behind it still solvent?

With company failures set to increase, the guaranteed pensions that such schemes offer may now be in doubt. The golden rule in pension planning is that a defined-benefit scheme, with all the certainty it offers, is almost always a better option than other types of arrangement. However, if your employer goes under and there’s not enough money in the scheme, your pension could be threatened.

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David Prosser
Business Columnist

David Prosser is a regular MoneyWeek columnist, writing on small business and entrepreneurship, as well as pensions and other forms of tax-efficient savings and investments. David has been a financial journalist for almost 30 years, specialising initially in personal finance, and then in broader business coverage. He has worked for national newspaper groups including The Financial Times, The Guardian and Observer, Express Newspapers and, most recently, The Independent, where he served for more than three years as business editor.