Make sure you’re all up to date and your retirement plan is where you want it to be
Now that you’re not too far away from retirement it’s worth taking five minutes to keep things up to date in My USS, and see what you might expect in the future and what happens next, when it comes to taking your benefits.
Log in to My USS and take five minutes to:
1. Check what you could get by using 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. 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 or through your employer, to understand what your benefits might be.
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 and savings, but you might still benefit from the free Approaching Retirement webinar on 27 May. The session will also explain how the USS retirement process works.
If you’re unable to attend any of the webinars 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. Keep your forms up to date
You should complete some forms right away as it’s good to keep things in order, as your circumstances may change over time.
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.
Find out more about what happens to your pension when you die.
4. Review your Target Retirement Age (TRA)
While you are in My USS, it’s worth checking you are happy with your TRA, which is the age you plan to start taking your savings in the Investment Builder. So, it’s important that this is aligned with your retirement plans.
5. Decide when and how you plan to take your savings in the Investment Builder
Your Investment Builder pot gives you a lot of flexibility, in terms of when and how you can take it. You can access it from age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028) and there’s a range of options you can choose from.
To help you decide how to take your Investment Builder savings, watch a recording of a recent Understanding DC webinar and use the Benefit Calculator in My USS.
6. Have a look at our 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.