Aegon TargetPlan: a workplace scheme for members

Aegon TargetPlan is a workplace pension scheme: your employer sets it up, you and your employer pay in, and Aegon invests the money. It is not something you buy off the shelf. If you have a TargetPlan account, it is because your employer chose the scheme, and your main decisions are how much to pay in, where the money is invested, and when and how to take it.

The plan gives you a choice of investments, from ready-made solutions to a range of funds that could form the building blocks for your own bespoke portfolio, and you can change your investment choice at any time¹. If you do not choose, you are automatically invested in your scheme's default fund². The standard default option for TargetPlan is Aegon LifePath, a target date fund, though your employer may have chosen a different fund¹.

Charges are not one rate for everyone. Each scheme is individually priced, and Aegon says the factors include how many members will be in the scheme, how long members are expected to save, the average ongoing contribution level, and whether members are likely to transfer in money from previous pension arrangements³. Your annual personal statement shows the charges that apply to your plan³.

What TargetPlan is and who it is for

TargetPlan sits in the workplace pension market: schemes arranged by an employer for its staff, rather than plans an individual opens directly. Aegon runs it alongside other workplace arrangements, and the same LifePath funds are available to customers in both TargetPlan and the Aegon Master Trust pension product⁶. If you are unsure which type of scheme you are in, the workplace pensions guide sets out how employer schemes work, and master trusts explains the trust-based model.

Membership is not something you apply for as an individual. You are in TargetPlan because your employer selected it, and your employer's scheme rules decide the contribution rates, the fund range and the default fund. That is why two people with TargetPlan accounts at different employers can have different charges and different defaults.

What the plan offers a member is a pension pot invested for retirement, with a choice about how it is invested and how it is eventually taken. TargetPlan lets you target one of three retirement outcomes: flexible drawdown, an annuity, or cash⁷. Your investments change as you approach retirement to meet the outcome you have chosen⁷. Aegon does not offer annuities itself, though they are available from other providers⁷.

The plan is designed for people saving through work over a long period. Aegon's own illustration of how much difference time makes assumes a retirement age of 60 and investment in the scheme default fund: saving monthly from age 25, at 5% of a £30,000 salary with the employer adding 3%, produces a potential pot of £171,000, while starting the same contributions at 35 produces £92,900⁸. Those are Aegon's example figures under its stated assumptions, not a forecast for any individual.

How it works

Money paid into TargetPlan is invested in funds. If you make no choice, you go into the scheme default. Aegon's guidance is blunt about this: "If you don't choose where to invest your pension, you'll automatically be invested in your scheme's default fund."²

The standard default for TargetPlan is Aegon LifePath, a target date fund¹. Target date funds are built around a date rather than a fixed mix: Aegon LifePath funds are target date funds⁹, and a lifestyle strategy automatically changes what it invests in as you get closer to retirement². Your employer may have designed a lifestyle strategy specifically for your scheme².

The mechanics matter more than the label. When you get close to retirement, usually within seven years, your fund automatically starts moving into investments better suited to the outcome it is targeting¹⁰. That stage happens in the final years, up to seven years, before the retirement date you have told Aegon¹¹. If you have targeted a cash lump sum outcome, your investments change closer to your targeted retirement date and become invested cash¹⁰.

You are not locked into the default. TargetPlan offers three ways to invest your workplace pension, and you can change your investment choice at any time¹. The switch funds journey starts from your TargetPlan dashboard². Fund factsheets and Key Investor Information Documents are the place to start when comparing funds, and you can read them on your customer dashboard by selecting the fund you are interested in². Those documents explain how each fund works and tell you what the fund aims to do, what it holds, past performance, costs and risk rating².

Aegon's own guidance on choosing funds is to understand your investment needs, consider your attitude to risk, and consider how long you have to invest¹². It also notes that if you need your money soon, within five years, you may need to be more cautious¹². Diversification, in Aegon's words, means investing in different asset classes such as company shares, bonds, commercial property and cash, different countries and regions and different industries¹².

How the fees and charges work

TargetPlan charges are set scheme by scheme, not published as a single rate. Aegon states that each scheme is individually priced based on a number of factors, and lists them: how many members will be in the scheme, how long Aegon expects members to save with it, the average ongoing member contribution level, and whether members are likely to transfer in money from previous pension arrangements³.

That means the charge you pay reflects your employer's scheme, and the only reliable figure for you is the one on your own paperwork. Aegon says you will receive an annual personal statement, where you can find the charges that apply to your plan³. If you want to know what you are paying before the next statement, that statement or your scheme's documents are the place to look.

Two structural points are worth knowing. First, fund charges are consistent across Aegon's service areas: the fund charges for each fund are the same no matter which service area you are part of³. Second, transaction costs are calculated on a historical basis rather than guessed at: Aegon's published transaction cost figures are based on the average actual annual transaction costs for the period 01/01/19 to 31/12/23³.

Charges in workplace pensions are also subject to a cap set by the rules for qualifying schemes, which limits what can be taken from the default arrangement. The workplace pension charges and charge cap page explains how that works and what counts towards it. Independent governance committees oversee value for money in workplace schemes, which is covered in Independent Governance Committees.

Aegon's own site carries the current figures for each fund and scheme, and those are the numbers to check rather than any figure quoted secondhand. If you are comparing what you pay with what another arrangement would cost, the workplace providers page sets out who operates in this market.

Who can apply and how to apply

You cannot apply for TargetPlan as an individual. Access comes through an employer that has chosen the scheme, so the practical question for most readers is not how to join but what to do once you are in, or what happens when you change jobs.

If you are already a member, the first step is to sign in. Aegon's guidance is to log in to your TargetPlan account to find out which fund or funds you are invested in, check your investments, or make changes¹³. You will also find details of the default option for your scheme in your Investment options brochure in the Documents tab⁷. To check which outcome your investments are set up for, sign in to your TargetPlan account and go to View and manage⁷.

Online services let you view the value of your account, your transactions and a breakdown of your investments¹⁴. The app is available on Google Play and the App Store¹⁴.

If you are choosing funds rather than accepting the default, Aegon's suggested sequence is to understand your investment needs, consider your attitude to risk, and consider how long you have to invest¹². Free, impartial guidance on pension options is available from Pension Wise, and the guide to getting retirement and pension advice covers how advice is paid for¹⁵.

If you leave your job, the pension stays yours. The options, including leaving it where it is, transferring it or combining it with other pots, are set out in what happens to your workplace pension when you leave a job and combining pension pots or keeping them separate.

How your money is protected

TargetPlan is provided by Aegon's UK insurance business. Aegon is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference number 165548, and its current trading names include Aegon¹⁶. It also appears on the Bank of England's list of insurers incorporated in the UK authorised to carry out contracts of insurance, as of 1 September 2026¹⁷.

That authorisation is what puts pension savings held with the firm inside the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FSCS covers authorised firms that fail and cannot pay claims, and its rules set out the limits that apply to different products, including pensions and investments. The current limits and how a claim is made are on the FSCS website¹⁸. The PPF vs FSCS protection comparison explains how that differs from the Pension Protection Fund, which covers a different situation: employers going bust while running a defined benefit scheme.

Protection of this kind covers the failure of the firm, not the performance of the investment. Aegon states plainly that the value of an investment can fall as well as rise and isn't guaranteed, and that you may get back less than the amount invested¹². Nothing in the compensation arrangements changes that.

There is also a practical protection question about access to your account. Aegon warns about screen sharing scams, describing a screen sharing scam as the method a scammer might use to access your personal information or your accounts to transfer out your money, and noting that the scam can only take place if you download the software and hand over control of your screen⁴. Aegon's own security guidance recommends keeping your firewall up-to-date and turned on at all times, enabling automatic software updates, protecting your mobile device with a PIN or biometrics, downloading apps only from official app stores, and switching off Bluetooth when you do not need it⁴. The pension scams guide covers the warning signs of a transfer approach.

Problems, complaints and getting help

If something goes wrong with the plan, the first step is Aegon's complaints process. Complaints can be made by online form, phone, email or post, with contact details given per brand and product range⁵. For TargetPlan specifically, the postal address is TargetPlan Complaints, Aegon Workplace Investing, SR43 4DH⁵. Complaints about how your personal information is processed can be made to Aegon's Data Protection Officer, and you have the right to ask for escalation to the Group Data Protection Officer⁵.

If the response does not resolve matters, the complaint can go further. The Financial Ombudsman Service looks at complaints about financial firms and is free to use; its published complaints data shows how many cases it receives about different products, including 17 new complaints about Section 32 Plans in the third quarter of 2025/26¹⁹. The complaining about a pension provider page and the Pensions Ombudsman guide explain which body handles which kind of complaint.

Keeping an eye on the plan is part of avoiding problems. Aegon's guidance is to review your pension and long-term savings regularly once you know where all your pension pots are and how to access them, and it suggests a full pension and savings health check annually on the same date²⁰. Aegon also notes that there is likely to be a cost for financial advice²⁰, and offers a Picture your best life tool to think about the life you want in the future²⁰.

Two dates are worth diarising. Under current legislation the pension access age rises from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028⁴. And Aegon is changing the investment mix in its LifePath funds between 2026 and 2030, gradually increasing investment in private markets and protected equities and introducing multi-asset credit⁹. Aegon states that from summer 2026 it begins adding those holdings and removing listed property and commodities, with no change to objectives, risk levels or charges in 2026, and that from 2027 onwards the objective, risk level and charges in Aegon LifePath funds are expected to change for some investors, through to 2030²¹.

If you are struggling with debt alongside your pension, free help is available. StepChange provides debt advice and support, and CAP runs a debt help service with its own complaints procedure²². The debt guide sets out the options in full.