This session is presented with Wesleyan Financial Services. Wesleyan, which the session describes as specialist financial advisers who help teachers choose financial products, explains pensions in its own terms; this is general information, not personal financial advice. Published 14 March 2023 (a Twitter Spaces recording), so tax rules are as they stood then; the lifetime allowance has since been abolished (from 6 April 2024).
What this covers
- Why many teachers are unsure whether their pension contributions are recorded correctly.
- Questions to ask yourself before retiring: what you will do, who with, how much you need each month and why you want to retire.
- Tax: the annual allowance, and the lifetime allowance as it stood in March 2023.
- Next steps to get financially ready for retirement.
Before you act on it
Check your service history and contributions with Teachers' Pensions, the scheme's administrator, the current pension annual allowance on GOV.UK, and your State Pension forecast.
About the session
When can I retire? Twitter Spaces With Wesleyan
Did you know that research shows that 36% of teachers have not checked their pension recently? from research by @TeacherTapp . Many people tell us that they are not sure how to check if their contributions are correct.
We started to get really interested in teacher pensions a couple of years ago, when a friend of ours told us that she had noticed that her pension was missing some of her years of employment.
We were curious, so we checked our own pensions, only to discover, that I had 7 years of contributions missing!
We are now providing coaching sessions to lots of school leaders who are thinking about leaving the profession. We help them to find the path out of school leadership and into other roles, so that they don’t feel so alone when making such a big career change.
We asked our community about their thoughts on retirement. And the response was basically :
- I don’t know if I can afford to retire.
- I don’t know when I can retire
So, we have been joined by @Wesleyan who have kindly offered to explain the (frankly minefield!) that is pensions, and we will hopefully have all the answers to these questions, and your questions tonight.
@Wesleyan are specialist financial advisors who help teachers to choose financial products, help them to protect their income, and to learn more about the Teachers Pension Scheme.
What Qs do we need to think about when preparing for retirement?
- Think: What do you want to do when you are not working?
- Who do you want to spend the time with?
- How much money do you need each month?
- What is your incentive to retire?
- Prioritise yourself
What do we need to consider when it comes to tax?
The annual allowance is the amount you have in all schemes, which may mean that you go over the threshold. At the time of this session (March 2023) there was also a lifetime allowance; the lifetime allowance charge was removed from 6 April 2023 and the allowance was abolished from 6 April 2024, so check current HMRC guidance. @Wesleyan can help.
What should be our next steps to get financially ready for retirement?
One point made in the session was that research suggests people who retire earlier tend to live longer; no study was named. Look at what you need, not what you want.
Leaders are wanting to retire with a good pension and are under the impression that that is what they will get. Not all leaders know or understand how to get the most out of their pension, or even where to start when it comes to retirement planning.
To find out more information about @Wesleyan please go to their website:
Dick Van Dyke"To me, retirement means doing what you have fun doing."
