Unable to top up current company pension - alternatives?

portoman

I currently pay into a local government scheme and I thought I could pay extra into it , which would then be matched by the govt or emperor etc, but I've been told they don't allow it. I've only been paying into it for about 5 years so there's not much there at the moment.

What have people in similar positions done?

la531983

Do you mean Additional Voluntary Contributions?  Did you specifically ask for this scheme?

https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/paying-in/paying-more/overview/#:~:text=When you pay Additional Voluntary,you receive tax relief automatically.

The employer contribution is immaterial as its a DB pension anyway.

xylophone

and I thought I could pay extra into it , which would then be matched by the govt or emperor etc, but I've been told they don't allow it. 

Neither the government nor  emperor ( ) will match your extra contributions but you could receive tax relief.

https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/paying-in/paying-more/

hyubh

portoman said:

I currently pay into a local government scheme and I thought I could pay extra into it , which would then be matched by the govt or emperor etc, but I've been told they don't allow it. I've only been paying into it for about 5 years so there's not much there at the moment.

You can pay additional contributions either by taking out an 'APC' contract (which purchases additional DB pension) or by starting an 'AVC', which in an LGPS context means a linked DC pot. In neither case is it likely your employer will agree to explicitly contribute too (in LGPS terms, that would be a 'shared cost' APC or AVC). However, you would still receive tax relief (basically your additional contributions, like your standard contributions, will reduce your taxable pay).

Dazed_and_C0nfused

portoman said:

I currently pay into a local government scheme and I thought I could pay extra into it , which would then be matched by the govt or emperor etc, but I've been told they don't allow it. I've only been paying into it for about 5 years so there's not much there at the moment.

What have people in similar positions done?

Do you definitely understand how LGPS works?

You aren't building up a pension pot in the way a lot of pensions work.

Each year you are a member you accrue a guaranteed amount, payable from the schemes normal pension age for the rest of your life.  Which is also revalued each year to protect it from inflation.

For example if you earn £30k you might pay £1,950 in pension contributions.  Which is likely to be a real cost of just £1,560 after taking account of the tax savings you benefit from.

In return you will accrue a pension of £612 😃

Universidad

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

In return you will accrue a pension of £612 😃

Which, crucially, is payable every year from retirement age for the rest of your natural life.

So you never know how much you'll get back out, but it's likely to be an order of magnitude more than £612!

portoman

la531983 said:

Do you mean Additional Voluntary Contributions?  Did you specifically ask for this scheme?

https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/paying-in/paying-more/overview/#:~:text=When you pay Additional Voluntary,you receive tax relief automatically.

The employer contribution is immaterial as its a DB pension anyway.

I was automatically enrolled into it when I started the job.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

portoman said:

la531983 said:

Do you mean Additional Voluntary Contributions?  Did you specifically ask for this scheme?

https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/paying-in/paying-more/overview/#:~:text=When you pay Additional Voluntary,you receive tax relief automatically.

The employer contribution is immaterial as its a DB pension anyway.

I was automatically enrolled into it when I started the job.

Are you getting confused?

Surely you were enrolled into the main (defined benefit) LGPS scheme. 

The ability to pay into the separate AVC but is what @la531983 is referring to.

portoman

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

portoman said:

la531983 said:

Do you mean Additional Voluntary Contributions?  Did you specifically ask for this scheme?

https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/paying-in/paying-more/overview/#:~:text=When you pay Additional Voluntary,you receive tax relief automatically.

The employer contribution is immaterial as its a DB pension anyway.

I was automatically enrolled into it when I started the job.

Are you getting confused?

Surely you were enrolled into the main (defined benefit) LGPS scheme. 

The ability to pay into the separate AVC but is what @la531983 is referring to.

Yes I was enrolled into the main plan. All I'm trying to do is see if it's worth paying more into it - which the fund say I could do via them taking more from my salary. I was hoping to pay more into it in a lump sum rather than them taking more from my wages.

la531983

There is a calculator on the LGPS website that tells you how much you get out of it, have you taken a look?  Regular or one off payments are accepted, but there is a cap. 

https://www.lgpsmember.org/help-and-support/tools-and-calculators/buy-extra-pension-calculator/

As said though the employer contribution is irrelevant in the normal scheme. They may contribute to the AVC I believe, but you will have to ask. 

portoman

la531983 said:

There is a calculator on the LGPS website that tells you how much you get out of it, have you taken a look?  Regular or one off payments are accepted, but there is a cap. 

https://www.lgpsmember.org/help-and-support/tools-and-calculators/buy-extra-pension-calculator/

As said though the employer contribution is irrelevant in the normal scheme. They may contribute to the AVC I believe, but you will have to ask. 

The problem is that I've been told via email that the Merseyside Pension Fund doesn't allow it 

"Thank you for your recent query.

Merseyside Pension Fund regulations do not allow one-off payments into the scheme, if you would like to increase your benefits this must come out of your monthly pay.

Please find link below to the Fund's website to find out ways of increasing your benefits:

https://mpfmembers.org.uk/content/how-can-i-pay-more- increase-my-benefits

Kind Regards"