Early career professional
Welcome to the personalised LGPS pension page for early career professionals.
Our aim for this page is for you to get a good understanding of your pension scheme membership and why it’s good to have a pension, even when you’re starting your career on a basic salary and retirement will be decades away.
About me
I am establishing my career and have 0 to 10 years working experience.
My pension knowledge
I don’t know much about pensions and want to know more so I can understand how they work and how they benefit me because it’s a lot to pay out of my salary every month when I have bills to pay, I don’t earn a lot and retirement is a long way off.
Three important facts about your pension
- You and your employer contribute to your LGPS pension and your employer pays more into the pension scheme than you do. Your employer’s contribution pays for roughly three quarters of the cost for providing your pension and you only pay a quarter of the costs.
- You get a death in service benefit of three times your salary from day one of joining. This can be paid to a person you nominate and could take care of your family if you die unexpectedly.
- You don’t have to opt out of the pension scheme altogether if you’re struggling to afford the membership payments. You can join the 50-50 scheme which means you maintain a pension but pay 50% less membership each month. If your affordability improves, you can always go back to 100% membership and if you are able to afford more, you can also top up your pension in different ways.
My need-to-knows
Based on feedback from early career professionals, these are the most often asked questions for your career stage:
- What is a pension scheme and why is it important?
- Is the Local Government Pension Scheme a good scheme compared to others?
- How do I know if I am a member or not?
- How much will I get in retirement and is that good?
- Can I see on my payslip what I’m paying each month and where is it on my payslip?
- Does it affect my tax?
- If I can’t afford the pension membership payments now, how will it affect me later?
- How can I keep track of my pension?
- What are my options if I am struggling to afford it?
- I have other pensions from previous jobs, can I transfer them into this pension?
- I’m moving to a new job with a new employer, can I take my pension with me?
- How does my pension help my family?
- I’m concerned my employer isn’t doing right by my pension, how can I check?
