You may have checked My Pension Online on the Teachers’ Pension Scheme website and found that your membership status s deferred. Here is what you need to know about the deferred status.
What is a deferred member?
You become a deferred member when you have stopped teaching for more than five years. You will have two or more years of pensionable service to qualify for your Teacher Pension Scheme benefits or one year in additional service after retirement. If you haven’t qualified for benefits in the Scheme, you can either take a refund of your contributions or, if you think you’ll be returning at a later date, you can leave the contributions where they are and pick up where you left off when you return.
A deferred member is someone who has retained benefits in a pension scheme but is no longer paying contributions into that scheme.
What happens to your contributions?
Your contributions stay within the scheme until the future when you qualify for retirement. By logging in to My Pension Online, you can find out how much these contributions are. The statement will be updated annually as your pension accrues value.
As a deferred member, your pension does not accrue value at the same levels as an active member, but it can be index linked and increase over time.
Can you transfer your contributions?
If you join a pension scheme similar to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, a defined benefits scheme, you can transfer your pension. To understand if the pension scheme in your new career qualifies, you should speak to an independent financial advisor.
Conclusion
When you leave teaching, your pension stays with the Scheme until you retire. You can find the age when you can claim this pension on My Pension Online, though you can apply early at 55 (57 after 2028).
The content in this article was correct on July 31st, 2022. You should not rely on this article to make important financial decisions. Teachers Financial Planning offers advice on pensions for teachers and non-teachers. Please use the contact form below to arrange an informal chat with an advisor and see how we can help you. The value of your investment can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.