For readers in a rush:

• Investing for your retirement is a long-term thing. Markets may rise and fall, it’s what you get back at the end that matters. 
• You can sign in to your Octopus Money Direct Online Service anytime to track your Navigator or Self-Drive pension’s performance day-to-day.  
• It’s easy to transfer your other pensions to Octopus Money Direct or top up your existing one online. 
• Our free online tools can help you plan for the retirement you want. 
• We’ll keep you posted with regular updates on the latest market news and trends. 

So, you’ve chosen an Octopus Money Direct pension to invest for your retirement – what now? Whether you’re new to pensions or just haven’t checked in for a while, here’s a quick guide to what you can do. 

Investing for retirement

Your retirement may be years away, but it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on how your investments are performing so you stay on track for the retirement you want.  

Even with a pension, one of the most important things to remember about investing for your retirement is that it’s a long-term journey. Markets will rise and fall, and short-term fluctuations are as normal as rain on a Bank Holiday. But a well-planned investment strategy (yes, like ours) can help smooth the ups and downs, giving your money the best chance to grow over time.  

For an in-depth look at setting your strategy, check out Smart strategies for investing in your pension. 

Reviewing your pension

You can sign in to your Octopus Money Direct pension account anytime to check on your investments. Once you’re in, you’ll see an overview of how your entire portfolio is performing, including:

• Your funds – a summary of where your money is invested. For example our Navigator pension will move your investments into safer, lower risk investments as you get older. 

• Money paid in – a record of how much you’ve paid in, plus tax relief payments from HMRC. 

• Growth performance – how your pension’s value has changed over time. 

You can also make some adjustments if you need to. You can:

• Change your planned retirement age – this will adjust your annual pension illustration. 

• Add beneficiaries – so your loved ones can benefit from your pension after you die.  

If you’ve been with us for more than three months, you’ll also be able to see your performance chart, which shows changes and trends in your investments. We update this every day.

Top up your pension investments 

• One-off payments – to increase your investment holdings, you can add money quickly using your debit card. Simply sign in, choose ‘Make a one-off payment’, and follow the steps.   

• Regular payments – setting up a Direct Debit allows you to invest on a schedule. Sign in, choose ‘Manage monthly payment’, and adjust or pause payments whenever needed. To arrange contributions from your employer, contact us. 

Discover top tips for growing your pension.  

Getting ready for retirement 

Retirement planning – whether you intend to retire early or later, it pays to plan ahead. To get an idea of how much you’ll need, and before or after tax, use our retirement planner. 

Combine your pensions – you may have a range of pensions from different employers over your lifetime. You can combine them all with your Octopus Money Direct pension so it’s easier to keep track and stay in control. Learn more in Combine your pensions. 

Understanding the pensions you have and the options they’ll give you can help you start to form your personal plan for the kind of retirement you want to live. Learn more about your retirement options. 

Accessing your pension

As you get closer to retirement, you’ll probably start to think more about how you can access your pension. Usually, you can do this from age 55 (57 from April 2028). You’ll have several options – you could: 

• Leave it as it is – and let it keep growing until you need it. 

• Start to make withdrawals using drawdown on some of the cash you’ve been putting away all these years, either as a lump sums (up to 25% tax-free) or regular payments.  

• Withdraw it all at once.  

• Buy an annuity.  

Learn more about your pension options. 

Whatever you decide to do, you’ll need to be careful about tax – but we can help you with that.

Staying informed

We’ll keep you updated on the latest market trends. Every six months, we’ll send you a statement detailing your investment performance, transactions and holdings. Once a year, we’ll also send your pension illustration, forecasting what your retirement pot could be worth. 

Also, our investment experts break down market movements and offer insights to help support your financial decisions in our quarterly market updates. 

Getting started with online services

If you opened your Octopus Money Direct pension before 2023 and haven’t used Online Service in the last year or so, now is a great time to get started. To walk you through the set-up process, take a look at our quick registration guide.