Four things you should do
From making sure everything is up to date, to looking at what you might get from your USS pension and how the retirement process works, here’s a few things worth doing.
1. Check what you could get by using the Benefit Calculator
Log in to My USS and use the Benefit Calculator. The Benefit Calculator projects the value of your benefits to the point at which you plan to take them, helping you understand whether you’re on track for what you want in the future from what you have built up in USS. You can also use it to see the impact that tweaking your planned retirement date might have on your benefits, and to calculate the impact of dialling up or down your pension/tax-free cash and other combinations and ways you might choose to access your pension.
When you are 12 months from retirement, you should request a retirement quote directly from us to understand what your benefits might be. This can also help you plan.
2. Sign up for a webinar to understand the retirement process
You’ve probably given a lot of thought to how and when you’re going to take your benefits but you could still take advantage of the free Approaching Retirement webinar on 27 May. The session will also explain how the USS retirement process works.
If you’re not able to attend on the day, you can watch a recording at a time that suits you.
You can read more about the other forms of guidance and advice open to you, on our guidance and financial advice page.
3. Have a look at factors
We use a number of factors to work out what your Retirement Income Builder benefits will be and they are subject to change. So, visit our factors page as part of your retirement planning.
4. Keep your forms up to date
Even though you’ve stopped paying in to USS, your loved ones could be eligible for benefits, so it’s important to keep your forms up to date.
There’s the Expression of Wish form, which lets us know who you’d like to receive your benefits when you die.
There’s also the Registration for potential dependants form, if you’re not married or in a civil partnership, or you’re no longer living with your spouse/civil partner, it’s important you keep this up to date. This tells us who you’d like to receive the equivalent of a spouse’s pension when you die.
We recommend you update these forms at least every three years so we know they’re correct, even if your wishes have not changed.