The pension for self-employed photographers
Penfold provides photographers with an easy-to-use pension. Contribute flexibly, get automatic tax relief and use our specialist transfer service to combine old pensions for you.
In support of The Societies of Photographers, get £25 into your pension using code 'SOP21'.
As with all investments, your capital is at risk.
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Join thousands of self-employed savers
Simplified savings
Running a business likely leaves you short on time, research says that only 14% of self employed people are saving into a pension. You might be focused on the day to day needs of your business, but it’s important to think about the future too.
Employees reap the tax rewards of a pension automatically, thanks to pre-tax contributions from their employer. What many don't realise is that the self-employed can take advantage too - you just need to start your own pension first.
That’s why we built a modern pension that takes only 5 minutes to set up and is effortless to use. Contributions can be made whenever you like, we automatically apply tax relief and you can choose four high performing funds to grow your savings.
Transfer and combine
Previously worked as an employee? You probably have old workplace pensions that make it difficult to understand how much you have saved, and need to save, for retirement. There's the added stress of managing multiple old accounts and your savings may be invested in poor performing funds by default.
Combine your old pensions into a single Penfold account and you'll easily be able to see the total value of your savings and have access to our top performing funds. Transferring is free and our specialist team will manage it for you.
Once you've requested a pension transfer, we'll contact your previous providers and do the hard work for you. You'll be able to stay up to date with progress any time on your Penfold dashboard.
It’s important to compare providers’ fees and any guaranteed benefits when deciding on whether to transfer, and be sure that the investments available are suitable for you. If your employer is paying into your pension currently, transferring that pot may mean you lose out on their contribution.
Flexible contributions
Whether you’re a freelancer, sole-trader, contractor or business owner your earnings probably aren’t easy to forecast.
Penfold is designed to adjust to your finances. Once you’re set up you can change, top-up, or pause payments instantly and at any time. If you’re unsure about how much to contribute, our pension calculator will help you decide how much to save to get the retirement you want.
Even better - self-employed workers get a 25% tax relief top-up on contributions. We organise this for you, automatically adding it to your pension. Subject to annual allowance. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change in the future.
Optimise your finances
If you're a director or run a limited company you can make tax efficient pension contributions.
Tax-free
Pension contributions from your limited company are classed as a business expense, so you won't pay any tax on these payments.
Save up to 25%
Business contributions are deductible from your corporation tax bill. £1,000 paid into your pension cuts your tax bill by £190 to £250 depending on your Corporation Tax Rate.
Maximise your allowance
Business pension contributions can be made without the tax-free salary restriction that most people are subject to.
Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change in the future.
Hand-picked fund selection
Lifetime plan
Our most popular plan. Automatically adjusts investments to maximise early growth before protecting your pot as you approach retirement.
Sustainable plan
Make a positive impact on the world without sacrificing growth. Invests your money into companies with a high ESG rating.
Sharia plan
Invest your money only into Sharia-compliant companies. All investments are approved by an independent Sharia committee.
Standard plan
Complete control of your pension. Choose between four different risk levels - tailoring investments to fit your preferences and outlook.
With investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Your new pension
Once set up you'll get access to our modern online account and app.
Find out how your pension is performing in real time
See details of our other investment plans and switch easily
Easily withdraw via drawdown, an annuity or even taking a lump sum
If you have any questions our friendly team of pension experts will be happy to help. Simply message us on our in-app chat, email or call - we promise no jargon!
FAQs
Yes, Penfold is for anyone who is self-employed, and this absolutely includes anyone who is a director or runs a limited company. You can make employer contributions into your Penfold pension, and these usually count as a company expense and therefore reduce your corporation tax bill. You should discuss this with your accountant as individual tax circumstances may vary.
No, Penfold is designed for maximum flexibility, so you can pause or stop your contributions anytime, make one-off top ups, or set up regular payments - whatever you like. There is no minimum deposit when you set up your pension, and you can pay nothing each month if you like.
If you sign up for Penfold, we’ll help you figure this out by applying some helpful rules of thumb and making some assumptions about what sort of life you want to live when you’re a bit older.
If you're signing up tap the Add Existing Pension button after you've chosen an investment fund. If you already have a Penfold account simply tap Transfer Your Pension on your account dashboard. All we need is the previous pension provider name, policy number and and approximate account value to start the transfer.
If you don't know all the details of your old pensions, our Find My Pension tool can help you track them down. In addition, our friendly customer service will be happy to help.
We hate hidden fees and you probably do too. We'll only charge you one fair, transparent annual fee for managing your pension that covers absolutely everything within Penfold’s pension service.
Our single fee is between 0.4% and 0.88%, depending on the plan you choose and your account value. We'll automatically deduct a portion of your annual fee from your pension in 12 monthly instalments.
Our platform is based on giving you pension peace of mind. We believe you should know your savings are being looked after, no matter what the future holds.
Penfold doesn't hold or manage your money. Anything paid into your pension is initially transferred into a secure account held by a custodian bank. It’s usually held here for one business day before being used to buy into your selected investment plan managed by Blackrock and HSBC - two of the world’s largest money managers.
Here’s the important thing to remember - your pension savings are kept separate from Penfold and belong entirely to you. If anything were to happen to Penfold your money can’t be touched by us or any of our partners - your pension would be transferred to another provider, ready for your retirement.
Your savings are used to invest in a mixture of shares (part ownership in a company) and bonds (a loan with a guaranteed fixed interest rate) that will hopefully help your pension grow over time. As with any investment, this involves risk - the value of your pension can go up as well as down, and you could get back less than you put in. However, greater risk can lead to greater returns - if you have a long time before retirement, investing over the long-term can help ease any short-term losses. Read our What does capital at risk mean? blog post to learn more about investing risk.
Penfold is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), number 826097.
Penfold is also a part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). In the unlikely event that something were to happen to Penfold or our partners (Blackrock, HSC and Lloyds bank), the value of your pension is protected up to a maximum of £85,000 per individual.
As a digital pension provider, we understand that many people want to know how their personal information is kept safe. To safeguard your data, we use the latest security technology and maintain strict internal practices every step of the way.
We also comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines. We'll never share your information with anyone else without asking you first.