The pension and lump sum paid to the deceased member's spouse and/or other dependants where death occurs after retirement or after the member's normal retirement date if s/he is retiring late.

The pension and lump sum paid to the deceased member's spouse and/or other dependants where death occurs while still working for his/her employer, before his/her normal retirement date.

Operates like a credit card except that the normal amount is deducted directly from your bank account so that no debt is accrued.

An agreement in a deed to transfer income from one person to another in a tax efficient way.

Also known as a Final Salary Scheme. This is the traditional form of company or occupational pension where your pension is calculated as a proportion of your salary in the last few years of work - with the proportion depending upon how many years you have been in your company scheme.

Also known as a Money Purchase Scheme. A scheme where the amount of a member's retirement benefits depends on the contributions paid into the scheme in respect of the member. The rate of the contributions is decided by the employer.

The new depolarisation rules are aimed at increasing customer choice and making it easier for people to understand the services and scope of advice available to them, along with the likely costs of that advice. Now, financial advisers can offer advice:
• across the whole market ( IFAs)
• from a limited number of providers (often referred to as multi-tie)
• from a single provider (often referred to as single-tie)

Payments made to investors of income generated by an investment fund.

The distribution to shareholders of a company's profits in proportion to the number of shares held.

The process by which the national currencies of the European Union are being replaced by the Euro.

A life insurance and savings policy which pays a specified amount of money at the end of an agreed term or on the death of the life assured. Often linked to a mortgage. The most common form of mortgage-linked endowments does not guarantee to return the mortgage amount on maturity.

The ordinary shares of a company.

An agreement by which most EU countries maintain the exchange rates between their currencies within certain limits.

The currency adopted by some European countries in place of their national currencies.

Also known as Defined Benefit Scheme. This is the traditional form of company or occupational pension where your pension at retirement is calculated as a proportion of your salary in the last few years of work, with the proportion depending upon how many years you have been in your company scheme.

Influencing an economy through taxation.

A mortgage product where your monthly payments do not change over a certain agreed period.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

If we arrange mortgages we can be paid by commission or a fee. If this is the case it can be found on our How We Are Paid page.

A mortgage product where you can vary the amount you pay each month, reduce the term by making extra or increased payments and take breaks from your monthly payments.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

If we arrange mortgages we can be paid by commission or a fee. If this is the case it can be found on our How We Are Paid page.

A pension product where you can vary the amount you pay each month and take breaks from your monthly payments.

The popular name for the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100, the main UK share index which represents the prices of the top 100 shares in public limited companies.

The Financial Services Authority, the main regulatory body of the financial services industry.

Extra payments you can make into an individual plan, which runs alongside your company pension scheme, to top up your pension fund. The plan is independent of your employer's main pension scheme.

General term for an investment vehicle which pools the money of investors and invests it according to a defined set of investment objectives.

A professional who takes decisions on what to buy and sell on behalf of a fund's investors.

The underlying economic factors such as industry output, wages, cost of materials and fluctuations in currency which affect a market, country or sector.

This is an occupational pension scheme that is not designed to be approved. This type of scheme saves up assets to pay members' benefits, unlike an unfunded scheme. Most FURBS are top-up pension schemes.

A contract to buy or sell a fixed amount of currencies, shares or commodities at a fixed rate in the future at a fixed price.