Status: Active | Role: Full-time reception school teacher

Torn between saving for the future and enjoying her money now.

Eve is 26 and has just started her teaching career. She works full-time as a reception school teacher and has been in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme since she started her role. She finds paying into her pension a difficult balance with her other commitments (saving for her first home and paying off student debts) along with the money she needs to fund her social life.

Eve was automatically enrolled into the career average section of the Scheme and her Normal Pension Age (NPA) is currently 68, so retirement isn't something she is really thinking about. Her NPA is linked to her State Pension Age (SPA) so could potentially change in the future.

She isn’t sure whether to stay in the Scheme or whether to opt out and she wants to understand what impact leaving the Scheme will have on her future benefits at retirement.

What can Eve do?

There’s lots of information available about the benefits of staying in the Teachers' Pension Scheme. She can use the online pension calculators to help her understand how a small amount of the money she saves now could help her enjoy a comfortable life after work. She should register for My Pension Online to manage her pension and check her personal and service details are correct. Eve can use the online web chat and Facebook and Instagram pages to learn more about the Scheme and get answers to any queries she may have.

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

1. Start managing your pension early, register or log in to My Pension Online (MPO)
2. Use our calculators to see how your pension builds up over your career. Try out different options and see what works for you
3. Watch ‘Life as a new teacher’ for all you need to know about the Scheme and how to make managing your teacher’s pension easy.