This modeller can be used if you are actively contributing to the scheme, in conjunction with your service statement or using a calculation date of your choice. It shows you what pension you have built up to the calculation date and what you will have at your chosen retirement age. It also shows the tax-free cash sum, death in service lump sum benefit and spouse's pension in the event of your death.
If you are already familiar with this modeller and would like to go straight to it, please do so by clicking the link below. You can also link directly to the added years AVC modeller from the benefit modeller which means there is no need to enter the same information again, only the additional data required.
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.
If you are experiencing technical problems with the modeller please see our
help page or contact our
webmaster if you can not find the solution.
If you are using the modeller for the first time please read on:
How to use the modeller
First you must enter your pensionable salary. If you don't know what this is, click on the help link and enter your monthly pension contribution from a recent payslip and the modeller will work it out for you. 
Then you should enter the rest of the information from your service statement. The shaded boxes on your statement correspond to the shaded fields on the modeller.
If you do not have a service statement and wish to select an alternative calculation date, you will still need to enter the same information.
If you do not know what your pensionable service up to the calculation date is, click on the help link and enter your service dates and the modeller will work it out for you.
Please note
This help link will not take any periods of absence or fluctuating part-time hours into account.
If you have one or more AVC contracts, tick the box at the bottom of the first screen before clicking on the 'Next >' button.
A further screen will appear for you to complete the details of your AVCs. Having completed this screen, click on the 'Next >' button again.
After the modeller has loaded, below the modeller itself there is a drop-down box of additional options. To access these options you should click on the arrow, as circled:
The following options will then be available:
To proceed, select an option then click the Go button.
Lifetime allowance option
- will open a new window which will let you know whether your estimated retirement benefits will exceed the lifetime allowance set by the government. More information is available in the information for high earners factsheet.
The Future salary option
- allows you to enter your current salary, and an estimated salary increase (in % per year until retirement). When you click Next, the modeller will be updated with your estimated future salary.
The AVC modeller option
- if, having used the benefit modeller, you would like to investigate the possibility of purchasing additional service, you can link directly to the added years AVC modeller by selecting the AVC modeller option. The advantage of this direct link is it prevents you from having to enter the same information in to the modeller again. You will, however, need to enter a few extra fields of data, namely your gender (if you don't currently pay AVCs), the date for your AVCs to start and the rate of contributions on any existing AVC contracts.
Exclusions
The modeller is not designed to deal with the more complex pension histories or unusual personal circumstances and therefore, will not be appropriate for some categories of member. These include members who:
- Are Mental Health Officers
- Are absent or whose membership is suspended at the service statement date
- Are over age 65 at the service statement date
- Are variable time employees
- Are in the process of applying for ill-health retirement,
- Are subject to a pension sharing order or have earmarked benefits.
If you are affected by these exclusions, please refer to USS.
Please note the following:
The modeller is intended as a general guide only and is based on current rules. If you would like specific guidance or are approaching retirement and need a full quotation, please speak to the pension contact at your institution.
If you select a retirement date earlier than age 65, the modeller will produce a result based on the assumption that early retirement is either at the request of your employer or, with your employer's consent; an early retirement factor will therefore not be applied.
Please note factors used in any quote may change over time.
If you intend to retire without the consent of your employer, please obtain a quotation from USS.
If you commence an AVC contract after 1 April 2006 and retire earlier than the intended retirement date of the contract, an early retirement factor will be applied to the benefits derived from this contract.
Multiple appointment holders need to aggregate the pensionable salaries from the different posts and enter this as the pensionable salary.
Some benefits in kind are pensionable. If you think part or all of the benefits you receive are pensionable but you are not sure, enter the monthly contribution from a recent payslip in the salary help tool to calculate your pensionable salary.
If you are part-time, the benefit modeller is only able to project future service using your current part-time service fraction. If your part-time service fraction is subject to change, please request a quotation from USS. All benefits are subject to Inland Revenue limits at the time of payment. Please note that this may affect you if your salary is in excess of the earnings cap.
If you have transferred benefits in to USS from another pension arrangement these benefits may be reduced early if you retire early.
If the transfer was agreed after 1 April 2009, the benefits transferred-in will be reduced if you draw those benefits before age 65. If the transfer was agreed before April 2009 benefits may be reduced if you retire before age 60 and the transfer value was received within 7 years of your early retirement. Full details are available in Factsheet Two.
If you are experiencing technical problems with the modeller please see our help page or contact our webmaster if you can not find the solution.