Starting out in teaching is a challenging time and you have a lot to think about. While you might not think your pension is one of your most significant priorities – with lesson planning, marking and the weight of admin providing quite the burden – it is part of your reward for your efforts. It is important to understand how you join the scheme and how you keep track of your benefits.
Joining the Teachers’ Pension Scheme
Your school will automatically enrol you in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme from the start of your contract. This is something called contractual enrolment.
Your HR team will also make sure the contributions for your Teachers’ Pension Scheme come from your salary each month. You may notice this amount on your salary slip, which will have been deducted before your pay is taxed. You should also notice that your employer also makes a significant contribution to your pension.
The amount you pay is updated every April and details can be found on the Teachers’ Pension Scheme website.
Tracking your benefits
There are significant benefits in being part of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, not least a retirement income in your older years. You may also benefit from a lump sum payment on retirement, family benefits and an amount paid to your estate should you die in service.
To make it easy to come to informed choices about your pension, you can track your benefits on My Pension Online (MPO). Creating an MPO account also allows you to manage your pension, including nominating your beneficiary and keeping track of your employment history.
To enrol with MPO you only need your national insurance number and a personal email address.
The content in this article was correct on July 31st 2021. 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.