Rejoining Teacher Pension Scheme

rickythegoat72

Hi all - any advice appreciated. Thought I had finished with teaching a year ago having paid into the TPS for 24 years (also had an AVC but have not paid into this for the last 10 years). With increasing prices etc I decided it was wise to accept an offer to return to teaching. Workload aside this does give me an unexpected increase in disposable income that I would like to use to potentially improve my pension position.

I would definitely like to make up for the missing year (and beyond the longer I manage to keep going) - the options on the TPS site suggest Additional Pension or Faster Accurual. On first couple of readings I'm not sure which one would be better to initially pursue. Or do Teacher AVCs provide good value? During the last year I was in a local government scheme but as this required 2 years of membership these contributions will also be coming back for me to invest.

Kind Regards


 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

During the last year I was in a local government scheme but as this required 2 years of membership these contributions will also be coming back for me to invest.

Could you expand on this?  You dont mean you are getting a refund of your contributions do you?

rickythegoat72

Yes, from memory when I joined last year it said 2 years of contributions required - if less they would be refunded (but would need to double check to confirm).

Dazed_and_C0nfused

rickythegoat72 said:

Yes, from memory when I joined last year it said 2 years of contributions required - if less they would be refunded (but would need to double check to confirm).

If you can find a way to you should try and stop the refund.

You should be able to get a transfer instead.  This includes the employer contributions and doesn't involve a (non refundable) tax deduction.

You might be pleasantly surprised at the difference!

https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/thinking-of-leaving/leaving-before-retirement/#:~:text=You will have an additional,within six months of leaving.

rickythegoat72

Many thanks for that - will be giving them a call tomorrow to check this.

OldBeanz

At this time, if buying extra pension, you may want to consider buying before inflation is added in April. Inflationary increases are given on the full amount.

Sun-Is-Fun

Additional pension gives you better returns than faster accrual. Seach Dave Fountain on youtube and he has a video comparing the two.

Whether to choose an AVC over the above two is personal choice. I would open a SIPP in preference over an AVC. Choose a low cost tracker like Vanguard Life Strategy, HSBC Global Strategy or Blackrock MyMap.

A SIPP or AVC is linked to the stock market so you are at the mercy of ups and downs. 

Paying extra into the TPS stops this as you have certainty and is index linked.