Building up savings
It’s simple: the more you contribute, the more you’re likely to have – and the more ITV will pay in (up to a limit) to help you build up savings.
Give me the highlights:
4 core contribution rates
You choose
ITV contributes too
As a % of your pensionable earnings
Pay more to boost your savings
Any amount you pay above 6% of pensionable earnings is called an extra contribution. Choose how much to pay – from as little as £1 a month. Also, when you join at your first opportunity, ITV may invite you to backdate your contributions to kick start your DC savings – you’ll have three months to decide.
Change your core contributions twice a year
You can change your core contribution rate from 1st April and 1st October each year – we’ll send you a reminder.
Pay or change your extra contributions when it suits you
Start, stop or change your extra contributions from month to month – or simply pay a one-off contribution whenever it suits you using the Extra contributions form.
Benefit from tax and national insurance savings
If you pay income tax, you get tax relief on your core and extra contributions (up to certain limits), so it makes the DC Plan a great way to save. Your contributions are usually made through salary sacrifice, so you pay less national insurance (NI) too.
Decide how to invest your contributions
Choose from the DC Plan’s range of options. You can invest extra contributions differently to core contributions if you want.
- You can choose to pay 3%, 4%, 5%, or 6% of your pensionable earnings as core contributions. In return, ITV will also contribute. Here’s how it works.
If you contribute ITV will top up your savings by Giving you total savings of 3% 6% 9% 4% 7% 11% 5% 8% 13% 6% 9% 15% - If you participate in the DC Plan through salary sacrifice, you don’t pay contributions directly to the DC Plan. Instead, what happens is that your basic salary is reduced by the amount of your core contributions, and ITV pays your core contributions for you, as well as its own contributions. Participating in this way means most members pay less NI. Find out more about salary sacrifice.
- If you decide not to participate through salary sacrifice, your contributions will be deducted from your basic salary and you won’t benefit from these extra NI savings.
- You can pay more than 6% of your pensionable earnings into the DC Plan if you want to boost your savings. These are called extra contributions.
- ITV doesn't match your extra contributions, but if you pay income tax, you'll still get tax savings on them up to HMRC's allowances (see Pension tax allowances below). If you make core contributions through salary sacrifice, your extra contributions will be made in the same way automatically – so, for most members that means paying less NI.
- You can start, stop or change how much you pay as extra contributions from month to month using the Extra contributions form.
Whether or not you participate in the DC Plan through salary sacrifice, if you pay income tax, you'll get tax savings on your contributions up to certain limits. So, the actual reduction you’ll see in your take-home pay will be less. Typically:
- If you pay basic-rate tax (20%), a contribution of £100 would reduce your take-home pay by only £80.
- If you pay higher-rate tax (40%), a contribution of £100 would reduce your take-home pay by £60.
- If you pay additional-rate tax (45%), a contribution of £100 would reduce your take-home pay by £55.
Use our contribution calculator to see what tax and NI savings you could make on your contributions.
- The DC Plan is a tax-registered pension scheme. You can save as much as you like into any number and type of registered pension schemes. If you pay income tax, you can get tax relief on your contributions up to 100% of your earnings each year (or £3,600 a year if greater), provided you pay the contributions before age 75.
- There are allowances on the amount of retirement savings you can build up tax efficiently over a 12-month period.
- You’re responsible for monitoring how your retirement benefits from all pension schemes measure against these allowances, so it’s important to make sure you understand how these allowances may affect you.
- ITV Pensions can help you understand how your benefits are building up, but if you’d like advice about saving tax efficiently for retirement, you'll need to speak to an independent financial adviser. Find out more about pension tax allowances.
