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Retirement hub

There are some things to be aware of as you receive your benefits and continue life in retirement.

Retirement – the start of a new life phase

Depending on your circumstances and lifestyle choices, there may be things you should think about to keep on top of your finances and future plans.

Understanding your USS membership, and the benefits you may be eligible for in retirement, could help along the way.

  • Help us keep in touch about your pension

  • Feel part of the
    USS community

  • Help take care of your loved ones once you’re gone

Visit My USS - Your pension at your fingertips

It takes minutes to register with your member number, or you can log in to your existing My USS account and:

  • View your payslips and P60s to keep track of your income
  • Update your address, personal details and beneficiaries
  • View and manage any Investment Builder savings

Watch our short video for an overview of My USS and what it can do for you.

Register or log in

Keep pension tax in mind

Your contributions won’t have been taxed while you were paying in, but they are when you receive them – like with a regular income.

It’s important to be aware of how your guaranteed income from your Retirement Income Builder savings – the defined benefit (DB) part of USS – will be taxed during retirement.

If you contributed to the Investment Builder – the defined contribution (DC) part – you’ll also need to understand how the options to flexibly access your savings pot are affected by tax.

Depending on your circumstances, there may be other tax limits for you to keep in mind.


Pension tax information

Living overseas in retirement

If you're living or planning to live in a different part of the world – be it a return to another country or a move to pastures new – rest assured you’ll still receive your USS pension.

See our Working or retiring overseas page for more information.

Make sure your contact details are correct

Now that you’ve retired, it’s important to keep your details up to date. You can do this in My USS.

We recommend you provide a personal email address so we can always keep in touch.

Continue planning for the future

It’s important to think about what will happen to your pension once you’re gone, as your loved ones may be eligible to receive some of the benefits you’ve built up.

During your first five years of retirement, keep your Expression of Wish form up to date in My USS. This tells us who you’d want to receive a lump sum that may be payable when you die.

You should continue updating your Expression of Wish form after your first five years if you have savings remaining in the Investment Builder. This will tell us who you’d want those funds to be paid to.

If you’re not married and don’t have a civil partner, let us know if there’s someone you’d want to be considered to receive the equivalent of a spouse’s pension when you die. To do this, keep the Registration of potential dependant form updated in My USS throughout your retirement.

More information

Manage any Investment Builder savings left with us

If you’ve taken your Retirement Income Builder benefits but left your Investment Builder savings invested, check they’re invested in the right place for you and make sure you keep your Target Retirement Age up to date.

When you’re ready to take your savings, you’re not limited to taking your money in just one way. You can mix and match your options depending on your future plans. Read all about your options on our Using your Investment Builder pot page.

Stay connected with USS

Read the latest edition of In Touch - our annual newsletter for retired members; and keep an eye on our member news for the latest scheme updates and useful articles.

You can also talk to peers about how they’re managing their pension and tell us what you think about USS by joining Member Voice. Through this online community for USS members, you could also take part in research such as surveys, discussions and previewing new things we plan to do.

Our Stay connected in retirement webpage can also help you make the most of your time in retirement, with tips for finding new activities and opportunities.

Useful for you

Any questions?

You can visit our Help & support page featuring FAQs which may help to answer your questions, including information for if you’re flexibly retired.

If you have any questions about your pension in payment, call our Pensions Payroll Team on 0151 556 0747 or email payroll@uss.co.uk.

If you have any questions about your tax code, contact HMRC directly on 0300 200 3300, quoting your National Insurance number and our PAYE reference 428/U168.

If you have any questions about your Investment Builder savings or My USS, contact our Member Service Team on 0333 300 1043. Lines are open 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday.