Joining as self-employed

As a self-employed Nest member you can contribute as often or as little as you like as long as you add at least £10 each time.

You’ll need to make your own contributions through your Nest account. You can do this:

• by Direct Debit or debit card from a personal account
• with a regular monthly contribution that you set up once or as a one-off contribution made when it best suits you

If you want to pay into your pension from your business account, you’ll need to set up as an employer using Nest.

Yes, you can. And bringing your pension pots together with Nest could make it easier to manage your long-term financial plans.

See the benefits of transferring into Nest .

We believe high quality investment management shouldn’t have to come at high prices. So, we’ve worked hard to drive down costs for you. You pay:

• the same low annual management charge of 0.3% on your total pension pot no matter what investment fund you’re in – that’s 3 pence per year for every £1,000 you’ve saved.
• a one-time contribution charge of 1.8% each time you add to your pot. That’s £1.80 per £100 – the same affordable charge for all our members.

You can save as much as you like into your Nest pension pot. There are no restrictions. 

However, when you’re deciding how much you’ll contribute you should be aware of when you can be charged additional tax by HM Revenue & Customs. This could happen if your contributions are above the annual allowance.

It’s a good idea to be aware of this limit even though most people don’t go over it. The annual allowance for the 2025 to 2026 tax year is £60,000. Find out about the government’s annual allowance.

There are also limits on how much tax relief you can get.

We’ll claim basic rate tax relief on your contributions for you and add this to your pot. If you pay higher than the basic rate, you can claim more tax relief from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

You can’t receive tax relief on pension contributions that are more than your taxable UK earnings in the tax year.  But if you earn £3,600 or less, including people who don’t earn any money, the maximum you can contribute is £3,600. This includes tax relief, so your personal contribution can be no higher than £2,880.

Learn about the benefits of tax relief. 

Over 95% of our members are invested in our award-winning Nest Retirement Date Funds. These funds are designed to work for most people, but you can choose to invest for different beliefs, faiths or risk appetite – and you pay the same low charges, no matter which fund you’re in.

Review your fund choices.

Because of the tax advantages of pension saving, all contributions will stay in your pot until you reach age 55 (rising to age 57 in 2028). 

These rules are set by the government – no pension scheme can override them except when you can no longer work because of poor health, disability or terminal illness.

You can keep your Nest pension whether you stay self-employed or decide to work for someone else.

If you start working for an employer that uses Nest, then they can contribute to your existing pot too – there’s no need to set up a new pot.

Being self-employed means you’re working in a trade, business, profession, office or vocation but you’re not employed by someone else. You’re in business for yourself. This usually means you have Schedule D tax status from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

If this describes you, you can set up a Nest pension.

For help understanding whether you’re self-employed, see HMRC’s guidance on working for yourself.

Being a single person director of a company means:

• you’re the only director of the company
• you’re employed by the company through a contract of employment
• the company doesn’t employ anyone else through a contract of employment

‘Company’ can mean any corporate body.

If this describes you, you can set up a Nest pension.

Being someone who ordinarily works in the UK means:

• you’re paid in British pounds
• you make National Insurance contributions, depending on your profits
• you’re resident in the UK

If you reside outside the UK, check that you’re not subject to any non-UK laws preventing you from signing up for a Nest pension.
If you’re unsure, seek independent financial or legal advice. Get started with MoneyHelper’s guide to getting help and advice.

If you employ other people, then the government’s auto enrolment pension duties apply to you and you’ll need to look at enrolling your workers in a pension scheme. Nest pensions are set up to be easy for employers to use. See our why choose Nest page to find out how we can support you. 

For more information on workplace pension duties visit The Pensions Regulator page for employers.