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

“I have been doing lots of research online through the website, I feel very informed.”

Louise is 50. She is a full-time primary school teacher and has been teaching for 23 years. She believes having a pension is very important and would encourage members to stay in the Scheme.

After originally opting out of the final salary scheme when she first joined, she then opted back in after realising the benefits of being a member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

She’s starting to think ahead to her retirement and is beginning to plan how and when she’s going to retire. She spends time researching information on her pension via My Pension Online. She also uses Facebook to keep up to date with information about the Scheme and to interact with other members.

What can Louise do?

By using the online calculators she can see what she might get at different ages and work out when she can comfortably retire. She should make use of the online guides, videos and FAQs to familiarise herself with options like Phased Retirement, Early Retirement or paying into flexibilities to boost her pension.

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

1. Register for My Pension Online (MPO) to check on your pension and apply for retirement
2. Make use of the online calculators to get an insight into how much your pension could be worth
3. Watch the online retirement videos including ‘Getting ready for retirement (This link opens in a new window)’ and ‘Applying for your pension (This link opens in a new window)’ which, explains everything you need to know about retirement and the application process.