What is a SIPP?
A Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) is an HMRC-registered personal pension you control. You pick the platform (Vanguard, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown) and the funds. Contributions get tax relief at your marginal rate: a basic-rate taxpayer pays £80 to get £100 in the pot, a higher-rate taxpayer claims another £20 back via self-assessment, an additional-rate taxpayer claims £25. The annual allowance is £60,000 (or 100% of relevant earnings, whichever is lower). You can access 25% tax-free from age 57 (rising from 55 in April 2028), the rest is taxed as income.
A higher-rate taxpayer contributes £8,000 net to a SIPP. The provider grosses it up to £10,000 automatically. They reclaim a further £2,000 via self-assessment, so the real cost is £6,000 for £10,000 invested. Run that £10,000 a year from age 35 to 57 at ~7% real, and the pot is around £510,000. Withdraw 25% tax-free (£127,500) and drawdown the rest over retirement, paid at your then-marginal rate.
Not claiming higher-rate or additional-rate relief through self-assessment. Providers only add basic-rate relief automatically. HMRC will not chase you, and most higher-rate taxpayers leave thousands of pounds on the table every year.
A 60-second lesson on this, with a worked drill, lives inside the Finlo app. Free, forever, on the basics.