Increase your Additional Voluntary Contributions if you'd like the chance to retire early or retire with more money

A few things to think about before making your investment choice

There are a few things you need to think about before you make your investment choice.

The first is risk. All investments come with a level of risk. In general, lower risk investments could offer more certainty, but potentially lower returns, while a higher risk investment could produce higher returns, but potentially higher losses.

Just saving your cash might seem like the safest option, but even this comes with risk. This is because your money may not go as far in the future if inflation causes the price of goods and services to go up.

The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may not get back the amount you put in.

To find the level of risk that’s right for you, you need to think about your plans.

What kind of future do you want?

Do you have a date you’re aiming to retire by? This will tell you how long you have to allow your investment to grow.

Do you know how much money you’d like to have in your pension pot when you do retire? This will tell you how much you need to save and the level of investment growth you’d potentially like to achieve.

You also need to decide how involved you want to be in managing your investment. Knowing the answers to these questions can help you work out which investment option is right for you.

It’s important you’re comfortable with the options available to you when choosing where to invest your contributions. We’ve made this choice easier for you by giving you up to three options to pick from. The default investment option, the lifestyling options, and choose your funds. You can pick whichever one you want now, and easily change between them in the future. These options aren’t a recommendation from Prudential.

The default investment option is picked for you by your employer, trustee, or scheme administrator, and is chosen with the aim of accommodating the needs of most employees. This could be right for you if you’d rather not make your own investment choices.

If the default investment option doesn’t suit your needs, you may want to consider the lifestyling options. They work in two stages. The first stage aims to grow the size of your pot when you are further from retirement, typically by investing in funds which aim to grow faster than inflation. In the second stage, your money is moved into funds that could help reduce the risk of falls in the value of your pot as you near retirement. Of course, there is no guarantee that these aims will be met. Your investments are moved for you automatically, so you won’t have to worry about managing them yourself. You’ll find more information about how lifestyling works in your Fund Guide.

If you’re comfortable choosing your own funds, you can pick up to ten from the risk-rated funds available. This means you can combine different types of funds to suit your needs, and you can change them at any time. This could be a good choice if you’re happy being in charge of your investments, and fully understand the risks involved.

It’s up to you to decide which investment option is right for your needs. Check your Fund Guide for more information and to see which of these options are available to you. These options aren’t a recommendation from Prudential. If you’re still unsure, speak to a financial adviser.

The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may not get back the amount you put in.

So, when it comes to choosing your investment, remember to think about:

• What level of risk you’re comfortable with, and how much you can afford to lose.
• When you want to retire and how much money you’d like to have when you do.
• And how much you want to be involved with managing your investment.

And remember, you can choose where to invest now, and switch later if your plans for the future change.