Adobe provides a defined contribution pension plan through Aviva, which allows you to save and invest for retirement. When you participate, Adobe also contributes to your pension. Contributions benefit from tax and National Insurance savings.
Your pension fund also provides your loved ones with additional security. If you should die before you retire, the full value of the fund will be paid to your beneficiaries, typically free of tax.
Please see Aviva’s Pension Scheme Handbook for more details. You can also view this presentation for an overview of the plan.
Who’s eligible?
In line with UK pension legislation, all eligible Adobe employees will be automatically enrolled in the pension plan at a contribution rate of 2.5% from their date of hire with the first payment taken from the following month’s pay run. To be eligible, employees must:
- Be aged 22 or over
- Be under the State Pension Age
- Work or usually work in the UK
What you can contribute
Employees must contribute a minimum of 2.5% of their base salary to receive the 7% contribution from Adobe. You may increase your personal contribution at any time during the year via a monthly deduction in salary.
Any deductions from salary are made as a salary sacrifice deduction, and the salary sacrifice elements are not subject to tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC). Under salary sacrifice, both you and Adobe will pay less National Insurance contributions. Adobe also adds 50% of the employer’s National Insurance contribution savings to your pension.
Example
The following example assumes the employee in England** sacrifices £1,000 each year, and that the employee has an annual salary of £40,000 and contributes 2.5% of salary, with an employer contribution of 7%.
| Employee | Salary | Salary exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Annual salary | £40,000 | £39,000 |
| Monthly salary | £3,333 | £3,250 |
| Example employee contribution before tax relief | £66.67 | £0.00 |
| Tax | £483.33 | £466.67 |
| National Insurance | £319.40 | £309.40 |
| Take home pay* | £2,463.93 | £2,473.93 |
| Employer contribution | £233.33 | £316.67 |
| Employer NI saving put back into plan | £0.00 | £5.75 |
| Total invested per month | £316.67 | £322.42 |
* Take home pay is £10 per month greater under salary sacrifice.
** Different tax rates may apply in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
There is an annual allowance that limits the amount of total tax-free pension contributions that can be made each year. Currently, the annual allowance is £60,000, and includes both the Company’s and your contributions. You may be able to contribute more than the annual allowance amount to your pension plan provided you have unused pension allowance from the three previous tax years and you have sufficient earnings to do so.
Access your MyAviva pension account
- Once you have been enrolled into the pension plan and received your documentation in the post, you can register and access your pension account by visiting MyAviva or download the MyAviva app via App Store or Google Play.
- Allow 30 working days from the date you enrol for the first time to receive the enrolment pack at your home address.
- Once you have registered for MyAviva, your pension account will show on the home page and can be accessed by clicking the pension icon followed by the Details button.
- You may have to unlock your policy the first time you access it online. To do this, you will need the enrolment pack with your full policy number, the year your pension policy started, and the month and year of your retirement.
- If you are an existing Aviva plan member and you cannot locate your Aviva member pack, please contact the Aviva help desk on 0800 145 5744.
If you already have a MyAviva account
Your Adobe pension account should show alongside your other Aviva products. If it doesn’t, contact the Aviva support team on 0345 030 7041 for help.
Your investment options
You have a wide range of funds to choose from to support the investment strategy that’s right for you. Participants will be automatically enrolled in the default fund Aviva Pension Diversified Asset Fund II S6.
If you wish to choose your investment, you can pick from the options listed in the Adobe Group Personal Pension Plan fund selection book or view them on the Aviva website. To make your selection, call the Aviva help desk on 0800 145 5744 or log on to MyAviva.
How to change your contributions
You can update your contributions via My Adobe Benefits (powered by Darwin) at any time in the year.
- Go to Benefits Selection > Pension > Edit.
- Don’t forget to use the Pension Modeller to see how the change in the contribution you make will affect your pension in future and your take-home pay.
- Choose the preferred contribution level.
- Click Add to cart > Checkout > Confirm selection.
A confirmation message should pop up if you’ve successfully submitted your selections.
To transfer your other pension funds into your current Adobe policy, please contact Aviva directly on 0845 9000 817 or email Aviva at HowCanIHelp@aviva.co.uk.
If you no longer wish to participate in the pension scheme, please contact adobebenefits@darwin.com to discuss how to stop the contributions.
Bonus sacrifice
Aligned with the pension salary sacrifice plan currently available in the UK, Adobe provides a tax-efficient offering to include bonus payments. You can put all or part of your annual incentive plan (AIP) bonus into the Adobe group personal pension plan, free of income tax and National Insurance.
In addition, Adobe will top up the amount of bonus sacrificed, by returning 50% of the employer’s National Insurance.
By participating in the bonus sacrifice, you will not pay tax or employee National Insurance contributions on the amount of the sacrificed bonus. Adobe will also contribute 50% of the employer’s National Insurance savings to your pension.
How to enrol in bonus sacrifice
You can update your contributions via My Adobe Benefits.
- Go to Benefits Selection > Bonus Sacrifice > Select/Edit.
- Choose the preferred contribution level.
- Click Add to cart > Checkout > Confirm selection.
A confirmation message should pop up if you’ve successfully submitted your selections.
Note: The decision to contribute part or all of your AIP bonus into your pension must be made before you know the amount of your bonus award. Therefore, you can only select this benefit in December and January before the AIP bonus payment is made in February. This action must be done annually.
Commission sacrifice
Aligned with the pension salary sacrifice scheme currently available in the UK, Adobe provides a tax-efficient offering to include commission payments. You can put all or part of any commission payment into the Adobe group personal pension plan, free of income tax and employee National Insurance.
In addition, Adobe will top up the amount of bonus sacrificed by returning 50% of the employer’s National Insurance.
By participating in the commission sacrifice, you will not pay tax or employee National Insurance contributions on the value of the sacrificed bonus. Adobe will also contribute 50% of the employer’s National Insurance savings to your pension.
The tapered allowance
The taper (TAA) affects those with income (your Adobe salary plus any additional income) greater than £200,000 per tax year. If your income is above this threshold, the amount of tax-free contributions (personal and Adobe) made during the tax year may be affected by a tapered maximum annual limit. The annual allowance of £60,000 might be reduced depending on how much you earn; any contributions above your annual tapered limit would be subject to your marginal tax rate of 45%. Calculate your tapered annual allowance on gov.uk. View the annual allowance guide [PDF] and the lifetime allowance guide [PDF] for plan details.
If you are affected by this income threshold, your options are to:
- Continue having pension contributions paid into the pension plan with any contributions above the tax-free limit subject to tax payment annually via a personal self-declaration tax return, or
- Choose to redirect your personal and Adobe’s pension contributions into an individual savings account (ISA) with Cushon once your year-to-date total (Adobe and personal) pension contributions have reached £10,000 in the financial year. As a reminder, the ISA allowance per year is £20,000, and participants need to meet the required rules of an ISA.
Adobe’s workplace savings partner, Cushon, provides a series of short videos about TAA and how it can potentially affect your pension contributions. You must be on the network to access the links below:
Pension plan FAQs
What happens if I withdraw from the pension plan?
What happens if I withdraw from the pension plan?
Once you are automatically enrolled in the plan, you will be able to opt-out within 30 days from the date that you receive your policy terms and conditions, or from the date your policy and terms are issued (whichever is later). Any payments that may have been made will be refunded to you.
Full details of how to opt-out will be given to you by Aviva when they issue your policy documents. You can contact Aviva at 0800 145 5744 or contactus@aviva.co.uk.
After this period, if you no longer want to participate in the plan, please contact adobebenefits@darwin.com. Future contributions will cease, but you will not be entitled to receive a refund of the contributions you have made—these will remain invested in your pension account.
What happens to my pension plan if I leave Adobe?
What happens to my pension plan if I leave Adobe?
Adobe's contributions into your pension will stop as of your last day of employment, but all contributions made up to the point when you leave will remain in the fund. After you leave Adobe, you will continue to be able to log in to your Aviva account and view your funds. These funds will be kept in your pension fund until you reach the eligible age to start withdrawing them as a pension. If you have further questions, please reach out to the Aviva Pension team directly on 0800 145 5744 or email HowCanIHelp@aviva.co.uk.