Investments

There are different types of bonds, from gilts to corporate bonds. Bonds can be used to try to lower overall risk in an investment portfolio, thought that's not guaranteed. You can find out more in our Bonds guide.

Most people invest because it gives their money the chance to grow. Nowadays you can invest in lots of different things, from shares in companies to gold. How your investment might go down or up over time depends on four main factors.

Learn about these in our investing for basics guide.

There are different types of investments you can choose - but each one behaves differently. Our where to invest guide gives you an overview of your options to help you decide what's best for you.

If you're looking for ways to save for retirement while investing responsibly, you might want to find out about our Sustainable Multi Asset investment option. Or read how we incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into our investment choices.

It's a good idea to keep track on how your pension investments are performing, but remember that market ups and downs are part and parcel of investing. And if you panic and switch investments when markets are low, you could actually lose money in the long run. So sometimes the best thing you can do is to sit tight and wait for markets to recover before making any decisions. Find out more in Market fluctuations and your pension investments ‐ here's what to consider.

If you're particularly concerned, it might be the right time to speak to a financial adviser to help you review your investments. It's likely there will be a charge for any advice you receive. Remember, there's never really any guarantees and the value of investments can go down as well as up and may be worth less than was paid in.

There may not be a cash option for your Standard Life pension but you can sell your investments into your pension's cash account.

If you're thinking about doing this because you've seen a drop in your pension value and you're looking for a lower‐risk opinion, then there's some important things you should know. First, cash accounts are not designed to hold the bulk of your retirement savings - charges and the impact of inflation could eat into your savings. Second, it's normal to see investment performance rise and fall. If you can, give the markets time to recover before taking any money out. You'd likely be selling your pension investments at their lower value with no option to benefit from any rises when the market recovers.

Yes. if you feel confident choosing and reviewing investments on an ongoing basis, you can go down the 'Let me do it' investment route. Or you can choose the 'Help me do it' investing route where your money is invested in one of our select funds and experts do the rest, although we do recommend that you regularly review them to make sure they remain on track to meet your goals.

If you plan to go down the 'DIY' route, just make sure you have the time to really commit. You'll need to regularly review how your investments are doing, research options and, if necessary, move your money around. It may be a good idea to start by assessing your attitude to risk. Most funds have a rating to indicate how much risk they're taking; we use volatility. with this, the higher the volatility rating, the more likely an investment will fluctuate in price. Our attitude to risk tool can help you assess the level of risk you're comfortable taking.

Yes. We'll ask you how you plan to take your retirement savings and how long you want it to last. You'll have the option to invest in one of our Investment Pathway options. These pathways are ready‐made investment options designed to meet your retirement needs based on how you'd like to take your money in retirement. If the you're interested in choosing from our full fund range, there's lots of information and tools to help in our investment hub.