Joining USS is one of the best decisions you will make. Final salary scheme like this provide benefits based on how long you’re in the scheme and your salary close to retirement, an employment benefit to which fewer and fewer people have access.
Even just a short time in a good pension scheme like USS makes financial sense, because your employer is paying in extra money, over and above your salary, for your benefit. If you change jobs, you won’t lose the value of all the contributions put into USS. See Leaving the Scheme section for more information.
When you have joined there are a couple of things you should think about straight-away:
1. Complete a death benefit nomination
- Expression of Wish- Everyone should complete this form to let USS know to whom any lump sum payment should be paid in the event of your death.
- Registration of Potential Dependant- Only complete this form if you are not married nor part of a civil partnership. This form is used to tell USS of a financial dependant who might qualify to receive the equivalent of your spouse’s pension on your death.
2. Transfer benefits to USS
You can transfer previous pension benefits into USS. Click here for full details.
Public Sector Transfers - These transfers receive beneficial treatment but you must apply within 2 years of joining USS to qualify.
If you want to investigate a transfer, complete the transfer request form and pass to the pensions contact at your place of employment.
Consider saving more towards your retirement
You might want to save more towards your pension. Perhaps you’ve joined the scheme late on in your career, or maybe you just can’t build up enough time in the scheme for other reasons.
If you are currently paying into USS you have 2 ways to pay more into USS to improve your benefits. These facilities are called Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs for short).
- You can pay extra contributions to buy more years and days service in USS or
- pay into what we call the Money Purchase AVC facility, administered by Prudential.
The sooner you start saving the more you can build up, plus you spread the cost over a longer period, so it makes sense to start as soon as possible.
Please go to the Maximising your pension section for full details.