You can contribute to a stakeholder pension whether you are in employment, a fixed-contract worker, self-employed, or even not working. You can get one from a range of providers including a bank, building society, insurance company, investment company, or through a financial adviser.

Stakeholder pensions suit a wide range of people. But they are likely to be particularly attractive to people who have no existing pension provision apart from the State pensions, such as the self-employed or any employee whose employer does not contribute to a workplace-based pension scheme. Stakeholder pensions can be used to top up the benefits provided by an employer's own scheme. But if your employer offers to match any additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) that you choose to make to his scheme, this is likely to be a better way of topping-up than through your own separate stakeholder pension.

Stakeholder pensions have many advantages for many people, but they may not be the right choice for everyone. These decision trees are intended to help you decide what would be a good choice for you.