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Teaching Staff |
| Your Questions | Our Answers |
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Superannuation - Increasing your Benefits |
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| Q How can I increase my pension benefits |
The options are:
In certain circumstances you may
also elect to pay extra contributions to increase the amount of family
benefits which may become payable. |
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Past Added Years |
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| Q Can I pay more into the scheme to make up for lost benefits when I was not working, due to time out for bringing up my family? |
The scheme enables you to purchase - at full cost to you - extra years of service which would not otherwise count for benefits. The additional years must relate to a period when you were over the age of 20 but were not in pensionable employment (e.g. were not teaching). An election to purchase Past
Added Years must be made while you are in pensionable employment. |
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Past Added Years - The Costs |
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| Q What does it cost to increase my pension benefits? |
The cost depends on your age and your salary. For example, a teacher aged 45 could but one "Past Added Year" at a cost of 1.92% of his or her salary, over a 10 year period. It is possible for employers to purchase Past Added Years on behalf of a teacher, by lump sum. Click
here for an illustration of costs of increasing your benefits |
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Current Added Years |
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| Q Can I increase my benefits even though I am not currently working? |
If you have been a member of the STSS but are not at present in pensionable employment (e.g. if you are temporarily teaching abroad, or if you are temporarily doing different work in this country), you may be able to purchase "Current Added Years". This increases your reckonable service under the scheme, improving your eventual retiral benefits. This facility is not available if you have opted out of the STSS in favour of other pension arrangements, nor if you are aged 60 or over. To purchase Current Added Years, you must apply within 3 months of leaving pensionable service, or within 6 months if you are teaching abroad. There are limits on the period you can cover. You have to pay both your own
normal contributions and the contributions which your employer would normally
pay, over the period of the absence (the total of these
contributions being, at present, 12.9% of your salary). |
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AVC's with the Prudential |
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| Q What other ways can I use to increase my pension benefits? |
You can choose to pay Additional Voluntary Contributions to Prudential Life and Pensions in order to buy extra pension benefits. These contributions would be deducted from your salary and would attract tax relief (subject to Inland Revenue limits). Your AVC savings are invested by the Prudential, for example in company shares, Government stocks and property. Profits (which are free of all UK income and capital gains tax) are added to your individual account in the form of annual interest, bonus additions and a terminal bonus. The return cannot be guaranteed in advance; but each year you receive a Benefit Statement which shows how your investments are progressing. You may pay AVC's to increase your own pension, any dependant's pension, the lump sum death grant, or any combination of these. Please note that the benefits gained from your AVC's are paid separately from your normal STSS benefits. The Prudential provides an
information pack upon request. This illustrates benefits at retirement
based on recent investment performance. |
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Free Standing A V C's |
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| Q Can I use another provider for A V C's? | Yes
you can use any Company who provides an AVC scheme. Are available from many Providers click the AVC's hyperlink to find out more Click here for an illustration of costs of AVC's |
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| Q What other ways can I use to increase my pension benefits? | Are available from many Providers click the ISA's hyperlink to find out more | |||
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Benefits at Death Life Assurance Explained |
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| Q What will be paid to my Husband/Wife if I die? |
A lump sum, plus a percentage of your pension. This amount will be determined by sex, and size of family. Ask CJR Associates for an illustration of your entitlement. Click
here for an illustration of costs of increasing your protection benefits |
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Ill Health Income Protection Explained |
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| Q How do I protect my income against illness? |
You will be
entitled to 6 months full salary, followed by 6 months Half salary |
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Retirement Age |
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| Q When can I retire? |
Whether you are a man or a woman,
you will normally be able to retire from teaching and qualify for your
retirement benefits when you reach age 60, irrespective of the
length of your service. If you remain in teaching after age 60, benefits
are payable when you eventually retire (or at age 70 if for any reason you
were still in service; most teachers have to retire at age 65). Normal
retirement at age 60 or over, as described in this paragraph, is known as
age retirement.
Retirement benefits can be paid
before age 60 but only; or If you are prematurely retired
because of redundancy or in the interests of the efficient exercise of
your employer agrees to the early payment of benefits). 2 years of pensionable employment
after 5 April 1988; or 5 years of pensionable employment at any time. |
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Calculating your pension |
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| Q How do I Work out my pension? |
Multiply your years of service times
your salary and divide by 80. Alternatively, contact CJRAssociates for an illustration Pensionable Salary is basically your best salary for any 365 consecutive days in the last 3 years of teaching, Reckonable Service is basically the amount of service you have accrued in the scheme. There are slightly different arrangements for part-time teachers; see below. Annual Pension You pension amounts to 1/80th of your pensionable salary for each year of service (days being expressed as a decimal fraction of a year). For example: a teacher retiring at 60 with 30 years 125 days' service on final pay of £20,000 would normally receive: £20,000 x 30.3425 x 1/80 =£7,585.63 per year Lump Sum Your tax-free lump sum is usually 3 times the amount of the annual pensions, e.g. £22,756.89 in the above example. It is basically calculated as 3/80ths of your pensionable salary for each year of service (days again counting as fractions of a year). Click here for an easy to understand illustration of your retirement benefits |
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Family Benefits |
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| Q What benefits do my family get? |
If you die before retirement, the
scheme provides for payment of widows',widowers', children's and dependants'
pensions, in addition to the death gratuity. Short-term and long-term pensions are provided, depending on the amount of eligible service you have in the scheme. Eligible service in these circumstances is known as family benefits service. Qualification Service after 5 April 1988, plus any service before that date which you elected to purchase, counts if you are a married woman. Short-term pensions for widows,
widowers and children Long-term pensions for widows
and widowers If all your service counted for family benefits, the long-term pension would be half the rate of the pension you had earned up to the date of death. If only part of your service
counted for family benefits, the pension would be proportionately less. Children's pensions are paid for
children under the age of 17, and for older children if they are in
full-time education or certain kinds of training. A child's pension ends if the child marries. If there is no widow or widower, an
orphan's pension may be paid. This would be at a higher rate than the
child's rate of pension. You can nominate: |
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More information |
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| Q How do I obtain more information? |
Contact the Scottish Office Pensions
Agency, St Margarets House, Edinburgh or complete the CJRAssociates online enquiry form |
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Go to more Questions and Answers on the TSS >
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CJR Associates |
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To get to know more about how CJR Associates can help you in the many area's of independent financial planning, investments and pensions, call 0131 467 7406 or 01896 757223 or e mail us on cjrassociates@lineone.co.uk |
Alternatively, please fill in the contact
form today. |