Status: Retired early | Role: University professor

MPO was key for me in securing an Early Retirement.

Steven is 56 and retired from university teaching a year ago. He taught physical education for 30 years, and is now spending time on his hobbies, enjoying the security of the stable income he gets from his teacher’s pension. Knowing he has a guaranteed source of income for life has allowed Steven to spend more time with his family and enjoy more of his life away from work.

Steven would encourage all Scheme members to think about the retirement they want and stresses that preparation is key. He credits the ease of his journey to the range of online support available via My Pension Online (MPO) and the other resources that can be found on our website.

What did Steven do?

Steven used MPO to keep track of his Benefit Statement so he could ensure that his service history was up to date, and check that his finances were in order, ahead of his retirement.

He made use of the Retirement guides and videos on our website to answer the questions he had about the retirement process and how his benefits would be paid, as well as the new Scheme Personalised Calculator on MPO to get an estimate of his pension benefits. He also used MPO to update his nomination details to make sure that, if the worst happened, his loved ones would be taken care of.

Do you sound like Steven? Here’s what you can do:

1. Register for MPO if you haven’t already to ensure that your details are up to date, make any required changes, and keep track of your Benefit Statement
2. Make use of the online Early Retirement resources to learn more about life after retirement, what benefits you can expect to receive, update your nomination details, and find out what to do if you decide that you’d like to return to work.
3. Use the Scheme Personalised Calculator on MPO to understand your benefits and how much you can expect to receive.
4. Watch our ‘Making the most of your retirement (This link opens in a new window)’ and ‘Retirement planning (This link opens in a new window)’ videos to give you some helpful tips.
5. Take a look at our Early Retirement information for further help and support.