AVCs. In addition to regularly made contributions, these are extra contributions paid by an employee into a pension plan. Employees tend to make additional contributions to save more money for retirement or avoid more taxes. There are two types of additional voluntary contributions, inhouse or free standing. Inhouse AVCs can buy an employee additional years which can be factored into their pension calculation or added directly into the pension that they have already accumulated. Free standing AVCs are put into investments outside of the company sponsored pension plan. This provides the employee the ability to diversify their portfolio.