2026 PensionBee Review: Manage Your Pension Online

Disclaimer: with pensions, your capital is at risk.

I recently moved my old pension to PensionBee. Generally speaking, a pension is a tax-efficient way of saving for your retirement. The amount you get when you retire depends on how much you contributed to your pension fund during your working life. Take a look at my PensionBee review to find out more about moving your pension and managing it online.

My pension isn’t something I’d paid much thought to until recently. I’d been automatically enrolled into it by my employer and was making contributions through my monthly wage. I had no idea what the overall balance was and I suspect that this is not uncommon.

But through wanting to gain control over my money, looking into my pension was one of the jobs along the way. I found it very difficult to find out information about m workplace pension and decided that if 20-something me couldn’t gain access to my pension, then 60+ year old me would probably find it even harder. That’s when I decided to move to PensionBee and manage my pension online.

PensionBee Review: the easiest way to manage your pension online.

Benefits of a Pension

Paying into a pension is generally a good idea. While there are many ways to save and invest for your retirement, a pension provides great benefits when it comes to putting money aside for your retirement. The two main benefits include tax relief and employer contributions.

Tax relief – Pensions contributions are tax free, and the government adds 25% to any contributions you put in up to a certain limit (if you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you can claim even more via your tax return form).
Workplace pensions. A workplace pension legally requires employers to contribute to a pension on your behalf. Not only do you receive contributions from the government in the form of tax relief, you also receive contributions from your employer (a minimum of 3%).

The amount you and your employer pay towards the pension depends on what type of workplace pension scheme you’re in and whether you’ve been automatically enrolled in a workplace pension or you’ve joined one voluntarily (‘opted in’). You can use the Money Advice Service’s contributions calculator to work out how much you and your employer will put in.

What is PensionBee?

Launched in the UK in 2014, PensionBee combines and transfers your old pensions into a brand new online plan. Your pension is then managed by some of the world’s largest money managers. PensionBee have pension calculators and retirement forecasting tools to help you to plan ahead, and build a clearer picture about what you should be contributing.

Boring Money PensionBee Review: “A nice option for those who are conscious that they have small pensions lying around the place and need to join them up in one place.”

You can pick from PensionBee’s range of plans or they’ll invest you in Tailored – their most popular option, which automatically moves your money into safer assets as you grow older. It’s free to change your plan at any time.

With PensionBee you’ll pay one fair annual fee between 0.50% and 0.95%, depending on the plan you choose. There’s no exit fee if you choose to leave PensionBee and they also provide a 30-day cancellation policy.

My PensionBee Review

The switching process was very smooth; I sign up online with some basic details, including my National Insurance number and pension policy number. On average, switching to PensionBee typically takes around 12 weeks. You’re given a ‘personal BeeKeeper’ who provides regular updates as your switch progresses. When I switched they managed to find a pension that I wasn’t aware of (worth £3000+) and moved that over too.

For me, PensionBee have been brilliant. My motivation for switching to them came from struggling to access my old pension. Now that I’ve switched to PensionBee it takes me seconds to access my pension view the live balance, and I’m able to check the performance of my pension under the ‘Analytics’ tab.

You can pay money into your new PensionBee plan as often or as little as you like, by Direct Debit or standing order. They’ll also automatically claim your 25% tax top up from HMRC and add it to your balance if you’re eligible for tax relief. If you’re the director of a limited company you can make employer contributions into your pension, as well as personal contributions via your BeeHive – this is what I plan to do next with my pension.

My PensionBee review – 10/10.

An Ethical Pension

PensionBee’s new Fossil Fuel Free Plan is an example of ethical investing. It’s one of the UK’s first mainstream private pensions to completely exclude fossil fuel, tobacco and controversial weapons companies.

Studies from academics, industry bodies and corporations suggest that sustainable investments can yield greater returns, while investing in oil and tobacco producers can bring more risk. For these companies government action (whether through outright bans or taxes), civil lawsuits and adverse media coverage are all very real threats.

£100 Free Contribution Towards your Pension (when you refer a friend)

If my PensionBee review hasn’t already convinced you enough you can also earn £100 for each friend you refer to them. When they sign up to PensionBee and move one or more of their old pension to them you’ll receive an extra £100 towards your pension. £80 referral reward and £20 tax top up.

Once you’re signed up, you’ll get your referral link which you can share with friends.