If you are currently paying into USS, you are able to improve your benefits by making extra contributions, called AVCs (Additional Voluntary Contributions), or by transferring benefits in to USS from other pension arrangements that you may have.
If you are earning or are likely to earn more than £100,000 pa please consider the changes to tax relief being introduced and the ‘anti-forestalling’ measures announced by the government before making any decision about the payment of extra pension contributions. To find out more click here. If you are unsure you should seek financial advice.
Want to save more towards your pension?
Firstly you can estimate what your current pension would be. You could use the USS benefit modeller to help you as well as the Wealthcheck Calculator. We suggest you estimate your pension as a percentage of your current pay. That way you can directly compare your current earnings to what you might receive once retired to see if it’s going to be enough to live on.
If you think you need to save more, then USS can help. Of course, we should remind you that there are many other options for saving.
For example, you could pay into another pension scheme as well as USS (as long as your total contributions don’t exceed 100% of your earnings), or look into a vast range of other non-pension forms of saving and investment.
The big attraction of AVCs is tax relief. You will receive tax relief at either 20% or 40% (on any earnings subject to higher-rate tax) on these extra payments.
If you’re not sure, you should seek financial advice. Please click here to view a list of financial advisers living locally to you.
Full information on the AVC options can be found in Factsheet one - AVCs and you can also speak with the pensions contact at your institution for more information and help.
If you want to save more with USS there are two different ways you could do this.
- Buy extra service in USS (called the Added Years AVC) by regular or lump sum contributions:
- Pay up to an extra 15% of your annual salary into this AVC
- You know from day one the amount of service you will buy at the end of the contract
- Extra pension and tax-free cash based on extra service and salary close to retirement
You can get a quote for the cost of buying extra years with the
Added Years AVC modeller.
If you are interested complete an USS added years AVC enquiry form and pass it to the pensions contact at your institution to deal with.
Pay into the Money Purchase AVC (Prudential) by regular or lump sum contributions. This is an investment-based facility but you have the choice of where your money is invested:
- Pay up to 100% of your available earnings into this AVC (and still receive tax relief)
- You choose where money is invested and therefore the level of risk
- Option to take all the fund as tax-free cash at retirement (subject to an overall limit)
- Option to buy a pension (called an annuity) with the fund, from Prudential, another provider or from USS when you retire (see the Prudential conversion tool)
- Flexible so that you can reduce or have breaks in your contributions
If you want more information about the money purchase AVC give Prudential a call on:
Tel: 0800 515 914 (existing members call the customer call centre on 0845 600 0343)
Or complete a Prudential AVC information enquiry form which will arrive directly at prudential once completed and submitted.
If you get the opportunity at your institution take up the offer of a face-to-face meeting with a Prudential representative. Speak to your pensions contact to see if this is an option.
Alternatively, visit the Prudential website here where you can view the latest investment fund reports.
Access your money purchase account online:
Click here to be taken to the Prudential website.
USS members have access to:
- Fund values
- View individual contribution/plan records
- Switch funds
- Redirect contributions
- Change Personal details
When logging on for the first time, you will need your username and password:
- The username is the Plan code (U291) followed by your 9-digit National Insurance number (without any spaces)
- The password is your National Insurance number.
Example:
Username: U291AB123456A
Password: AB123456A
You will be prompted to change your password the first time that you access the site.
Transfer benefits in to USS
You could increase the amount of service you have in USS by making a transfer into the scheme from a previous pension arrangement. Please refer to the section on Transferring-in benefits for detailed information on this option.