If you’re seriously considering using small business or startup investment as a way to fund your retirement, it could well be worth checking out the Abundance platform, which now offers a self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

The Abundance Pension will allow individuals to invest from £5000 in the first year either via installments or a lump sum. Investors can choose to fund any of the projects listed on the site at the time of cash injection, or thy can opt to fund future projects as they appear on the site.

A management fee of 0.3 per cent (£100 minimum) will be charged annually, but the first year is free to encourage people to sign up.

The return is made by Debentures, which are offered as between six and nine per cent, which accumulate as cash and can be re-invested into new Debentures.

When the investor hits age 55, they can access their entire portfolio in line with Pension Freedoms recently announced by the government.

“We hope that this new product’s unique combination of tax relief, the diversified and uncorrelated nature of our Debentures, and the steady and attractive returns they pay from investments matching our customers’ values will make the product a significant new motivation for many people to save more towards their retirement,” Bruce Davis, co-founder and joint MD of Abundance said.

“Finally they will have easy and direct access to choose between diverse investment assets, all with a social or environmental benefit, and all paying consistent, strong and uncorrelated returns within a tax-advantaged pension wrapper.”

Behind the launch, Abundance announced research that demonstrates the need for people to think more seriously about how they fund their pension.

It revealed that a staggering 88 per cent of people think it’s their responsibility to fund their own pension, but only 63 per cent have a pension in place.

Almost half of those questioned said they are concerned about the effects of a globalstock market crash, making them more cautious about using investments as a wayto fund retirement.

However, if they know, or get to choose where their pension pot is being invested, they would be more likely to use investments to pay for their future.