Check your Investment Builder
See how much you have saved in your Investment Builder and check where your savings are currently invested.
Explore your options for taking your Investment Builder savings
It might have been a while since you’ve checked in, but as well as your USS defined benefit (Retirement Income Builder) pension, you have some defined contribution savings in the Investment Builder.
Now you’re over 55, you can start taking these savings and you do not need to retire to take them.
Whether you want to take them soon, when you retire in the future, or simply leave them invested, it’s worth having a look at what you can do.
Take cash payments UFPLS
Take a flexible income
Take a guaranteed income
Take as one-off tax-free lump sum
ONE
Take cash payments
UFPLS
You can take some or all of your Investment Builder pot as a cash payment, also known as an UFPLS. If you do not want to withdraw it all at once, you may be able to take up to four cash payments a year, leaving the rest invested, where it could rise or fall in value. For each cash payment, the first 25% is tax-free and the rest is taxable income.
TWO
Take a flexible income
Flexi access drawdown (FAD)
You can transfer your Investment Builder to a FAD product, where you can then take up to 25% as a tax-free lump sum and leave the rest invested to take as flexible income when you need it.
THREE
Take a guaranteed income
Annuity
With an annuity, you can take tax-free cash and buy a guaranteed annual income for a fixed term or for life. This income may be higher if ill health reduces your life expectancy. Unless you choose a short-term annuity, it cannot be cancelled or changed once set up. USS does not offer annuities directly, so you would need to transfer your DC pot to another provider that does.
FOUR
Take as one-off tax-free lump sum
If you retire and take all your Retirement Income Builder and Investment Builder benefits at once, you can potentially take your whole Investment Builder pot as one tax-free lump sum, if it does not exceed 25% of your total benefits or exceed your Lump Sum Allowance.
Explore your options
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Model your options
Use the Benefit Calculator to see what your options could look like and help you plan for the future.