SPPA - adding to it

davey_browning

I'm a teacher and part of the SPPA scheme. I'm thinking about adding a bit more each month to my pension and I'm sure I read that in some circumstances your employer will need to add more to your pension if you put in extra contributions. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this with regards to the SPPA?

Thanks 

ewaste

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency is the Administrator for Public Sector Pension Schemes in Scotland. It's not a scheme in itself, presumably you're a member of the Teachers Pension Scheme (Scotland) 2015 commonly abbreviated to 'TPS'.

Your employer won't contribute anything further as it's a Defined Benefit scheme, you essentially pay a membership fee and the employer covers the, rather significant, balance of cost for providing any benefits due.

However you have a number of options if you wish to contribute more towards retirement and will receive tax relief on contributions made. You can make Money Purchase (Defined Contribution) Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) to build up a 'pot' of investments. You can also pay for Added Pension or Faster Pension Accrual which are on a Defined Benefit basis similar to your main benefits.

https://pensions.gov.scot/teachers/growing-your-pension/increasing-your-pension

Outside of the Scheme you can also contribute to a personal/private arrangement e.g. a SIPP.