Live4today Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Hi all, I have recently arrived in australia and have a question about pensions. A brief background about me: I was a primary teacher in the uk from 2008 -2015, until I left this Easter. During that time I worked full time for 3 years, had a years maternity leave, carried on working part time for a year(2 days a week), another maternity leave and then worked 1 day a week for approx. months. I have missed the deadline to transfer my pension over to an oz one. Can anyone please explain what this means for when i retire in terms of my uk teachers pension? I have looked on their website but cant find an answer. In 30 years time, when i retire, will my pension be the same amount as it is now, for example £200/$400 a month or will it go up with inflation? $400 might only buy me a loaf of bread and a pint of milk in 30 years ;-) or will it be even less as I don't know if employers contributions would be paid if i am here? One of our friends was a public sector worker and said that, if I wanted, I could take my contributions out and get a lump sum now. obviously that would mean that I wouldn't get a teachers pension later in life. But I am thinking if I could take out a lump sum now, that might be more beneficial to me now than waiting for 30 years and potentially getting very small amount each month. Does anyone know any of the answers to this or could they point me in the right direction on how to find out? Also, I have worked since I was 16 years old in either part time or full time except for a few years when travelling or at uni, do I still get to claim a state pension for the UK? sorry for all the pension questions, I'll admit I'm pretty clueless when it comes to any pension business. thanks PIO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 UK pensions until very recently were only accessible at retirement age. The rules changed this year and now some or all of it can be taken out as a lump sum at 55. If you are under 55 then no way will you be able to access it now. As to what it will be worth, was it defined benefits or defined contributions? Perhaps it is defined benefits as you were in the public sector, in this case yes it probably will go up a bit each year to reflect inflation, but you should get an annual statement with this information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 You will have 8 qualifying years of your teacher pension. You should have received a statement valuing your pension with a lump sum and annual amount which should be index-linked. If you have not been sent anything I would suggest contacting your former HR person to find out as this is an important piece of paper. Your qualifying years for state pension are based on the tax years in which you have paid NIC. While at Uni you may have earned under the NIC threshhold some years. You can obtain a pension forecast and also choose to make voluntary contributions now or in the future in order to top up your state pension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live4today Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 thanks for the info, il try and have a look for the paperwork for my teachers pension to see what it says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chouse Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I'm currently claiming mine back- been waiting 2 months now. I read somewhere that you could now opt out but only if under 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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