This is where you can find answers to some of the most commonly-asked questions about the TPT Scheme, as well as some of the more general pensions questions. Choose your question from the menu below to get the answer you need.
If your question isn’t answered here, please get in touch with us directly and we’ll be happy to help.
When you first join TPT, you’ll receive a welcome letter confirming your membership number and an email/letter explaining how you can activate your online account.
After the welcome information, we’ll send you a statement every year. This will show you how much you’ve got, how much you could have and how you can help it all grow and keep on track with your goals.
If you provide us with your email address, we’ll also send you newsletters, updates from time to time, and helpful information. We believe it’s important to regularly review your choices, even if you don’t make any changes. TThat’s why, if you provide us with your email address (and you agree to it), we will also send you reminders. You can provide us with your email address by logging in to your online DC account.
Once you’re 6 months from your retirement age, we’ll send you your retirement pack which will outline all your options.
You can pay as much or as little as you’d like, it’s all about affordability (as long as you’re meeting the rules set by your employer and the Government). Remember – retirement savings are long-term savings, so a little is better than nothing at all.
You can find out more about working out what to contribute here.
Not at all. The earlier you start to pay into a pension, the more likely you’ll be to reach your retirement savings goal. Remember - pensions are long-term savings, so a little now is better than nothing at all.
You can find out more about working out what to contribute here.
You can find out how much you've saved by logging into your online DC account and looking at your most recent benefit statement.
Once you have logged into your online DC account, you can also see where you’re currently investing and make changes at any time.
Click here for more information on registering to view and manage your account online.
If you’re still paying into the TPT Scheme, you might be able to combine your old retirement savings with your TPT savings.
You can find out more about combining your savings here.
Before making any decisions, you may want to speak to a financial adviser, who can help you see whether combining your savings is right for you (or let you know if there’s anything else you should be thinking about). You can read more about finding a financial adviser here.
If you’re interested in combining your other savings with your retirement savings at TPT:
You can find out more about combining your savings here.
Before making any decisions, you may want to speak to a financial adviser, who can help you see whether combining your savings is right for you (or let you know if there’s anything else you should be thinking about). You can read more about finding a financial adviser here.
If you leave the Scheme (either because you stop working for your employer, or because you choose to stop paying in) your savings will stay in the Scheme until you wish to take them or transfer them to another provider.
You don’t need to let us know you’re leaving the Scheme – your employer will do this for you.
Further information will be sent to you after you leave, but if you’d like to know more now click here.
Remember, if you decide to leave the Scheme and keep working for your employer you’ll usually automatically re-join the Scheme after about three years, although you can opt out if you wish.
You’ll only be able to get a refund of the payments you’ve made into the Scheme if:
We’ll include more information about your options when we send you your “leaving pack”.
If you leave the Scheme, you’ll be able to transfer your savings if:
If your new pension scheme is still with TPT, you may be able to claim continuous service - as long as you start new employment within 30 days of leaving the Scheme. You can find out more by getting in touch.
To transfer your benefits to another pension scheme you’ll need to contact your new employer (or private pension provider) who will be able to explain what information they need from us.
Once you’ve spoken to them, you should contact us and we will talk you through the process.
If we’re sending you information about your personal circumstances, like retiring or leaving, we’ll contact you by post. Otherwise we’ll always try to use email so we can keep you updated more regularly. This also supports our environmental values as a business.
One key piece of information, which will always be online, is your annual statement. That will be uploaded to your online DC account. We’ll email you when it’s ready for viewing.
If you’re in a TPT Scheme where you don’t have access to an online account, your statement will be sent in the post.
If we do call you, it will normally be about a personal matter and we’ll always introduce ourselves.
There are quite a few things to consider as you start to think about taking your savings. It may be helpful to speak to a financial adviser to make sure you’re making good financial decisions for your future.
There’s more information on finding a financial adviser and taking advice here.
Other places to find guidance are:
If you’re 55 or over and have DC savings (like those in the TPT Scheme), you can book a free Pension Wise guidance session to talk through your options. Pension Wise is a service offered by the Government and provides impartial advice. Each guidance session lasts between 45 and 60 minutes and will currently take place over the phone (rather than in person).
Call 0800 138 3944 or visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk/
The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning.
Call 0800 138 77 77 or visit www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Having Life Cover means that if you were to die while still making payments to your savings pot with TPT, your loved ones would receive a sum of money. If payable, it’s normally a multiple of your salary.
Life Cover is not something that is offered to all schemes and members, but your employer may have chosen to provide cover for its members as an extra benefit.
To check if you have Life Cover and what would be payable, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
If you do have Life Cover, to help us make sure the money goes to the right people you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If you were to die before taking your TPT savings, the value of your savings pot would be paid to your loved ones as a cash sum.
Remember – to help us make sure the money goes to the right people in the event of your death, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax. If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
Other benefits may also be available through the Scheme, if you die while you’re still paying into the Scheme. To check if you have additional benefits, like Life Cover, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
To help us make sure any money payable in the event of your death goes to the right people, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax.
One of the great benefits of saving into a pension is that you have a number of tax benefits, which can either mean you:
You receive tax relief on the payments made into your retirement savings. This tax relief has allowances in itself – these are limits on how much money you can pay into your retirement savings before you start paying tax.
The allowances are all set by the Government.
Helpful tip: You can check your own personal allowance directly with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
When you first join TPT, you’ll receive a welcome letter confirming your membership number and an email/letter explaining how you can activate your online account.
After the welcome information, we’ll send you a statement every year. This will show you how much you’ve got, how much you could have and how you can help it all grow and keep on track with your goals.
If you provide us with your email address, we’ll also send you newsletters, updates from time to time, and helpful information. We believe it’s important to regularly review your choices, even if you don’t make any changes. TThat’s why, if you provide us with your email address (and you agree to it), we will also send you reminders. You can provide us with your email address by logging in to your online DC account.
Once you’re 6 months from your retirement age, we’ll send you your retirement pack which will outline all your options.
You can pay as much or as little as you’d like, it’s all about affordability (as long as you’re meeting the rules set by your employer and the Government). Remember – retirement savings are long-term savings, so a little is better than nothing at all.
You can find out more about working out what to contribute here.
You can find out how much you've saved by logging into your online DC account and looking at your most recent benefit statement.
Once you have logged into your online DC account, you can also see where you’re currently investing and make changes at any time.
Click here for more information on registering to view and manage your account online.
You can pay up to 100% of your taxable pay in any tax year (6 April – 5 April) as pension contributions.
These contributions will be tax free as long as the total increase in your benefits in any one tax year does not exceed the Annual Allowance.
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs), are additional amounts you pay into the Scheme on top of your regular payments.
You can either choose to make a one-off lump sum payment, or arrange for regular AVCs to be deducted from your salary on top of your normal pension contribution.
You can arrange through your online DC account, or by contacting us on 0345 072 6780, or by completing an Application to Pay Additional Voluntary Contributions form.
Your Scheme guide, will let you know more about what your employer offers.
Yes. Initially, your TPT savings will automatically be invested in a 'Target Date Fund'. This kind of fund automatically changes where it’s invested the closer you get to your retirement age.
However, you don’t have to have your TPT savings invested in this option – you can make your own investment choices if you want to. Have a look at your investment options here.
If you want to make any changes, you can do so by logging into your online DC account.
Yes, all members will pay a charge to have their savings invested, and those charges are automatically included when we calculate how much your savings are worth. So you won’t see them as a separate cost when you look at the current value of your retirement savings.
There are two types of charge, which are included in the value of your retirement savings:
To find how much the charges are please check your Scheme guide.
The charges payable for other the funds are different and you can what these are by looking at the fund factsheets each fund here.
You can choose to have your TPT savings invested in a number of different options.
If you’d like to make your own investment choices, and make changes to where you were invested when you first joined, you can find out more about the different funds available here.
No, we don’t apply additional charges if you change where your TPT savings are invested.
Please note: the performance of the funds available can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Before making any investment selections, please carefully read the relevant Fund Fact Sheet.
If you’re still paying into the TPT Scheme, you might be able to combine your old retirement savings with your TPT savings.
You can find out more about combining your savings here.
Before making any decisions, you may want to speak to a financial adviser, who can help you see whether combining your savings is right for you (or let you know if there’s anything else you should be thinking about). You can read more about finding a financial adviser here.
If you’re interested in combining your other savings with your retirement savings at TPT:
You can find out more about combining your savings here.
Before making any decisions, you may want to speak to a financial adviser, who can help you see whether combining your savings is right for you (or let you know if there’s anything else you should be thinking about). You can read more about finding a financial adviser here.
If you leave the Scheme (either because you stop working for your employer, or because you choose to stop paying in) your savings will stay in the Scheme until you wish to take them or transfer them to another provider.
You don’t need to let us know you’re leaving the Scheme – your employer will do this for you.
Further information will be sent to you after you leave, but if you’d like to know more now click here.
Remember, if you decide to leave the Scheme and keep working for your employer you’ll usually automatically re-join the Scheme after about three years, although you can opt out if you wish.
You’ll only be able to get a refund of the payments you’ve made into the Scheme if:
We’ll include more information about your options when we send you your “leaving pack”.
If you leave the Scheme, you’ll be able to transfer your savings if:
If your new pension scheme is still with TPT, you may be able to claim continuous service - as long as you start new employment within 30 days of leaving the Scheme. You can find out more by getting in touch.
To transfer your benefits to another pension scheme you’ll need to contact your new employer (or private pension provider) who will be able to explain what information they need from us.
Once you’ve spoken to them, you should contact us and we will talk you through the process.
If we’re sending you information about your personal circumstances, like retiring or leaving, we’ll contact you by post. Otherwise we’ll always try to use email so we can keep you updated more regularly. This also supports our environmental values as a business.
One key piece of information, which will always be online, is your annual statement. That will be uploaded to your online DC account. We’ll email you when it’s ready for viewing.
If you’re in a TPT Scheme where you don’t have access to an online account, your statement will be sent in the post.
If we do call you, it will normally be about a personal matter and we’ll always introduce ourselves.
There are quite a few things to consider as you start to think about taking your savings. It may be helpful to speak to a financial adviser to make sure you’re making good financial decisions for your future.
There’s more information on finding a financial adviser and taking advice here.
Other places to find guidance are:
If you’re 55 or over and have DC savings (like those in the TPT Scheme), you can book a free Pension Wise guidance session to talk through your options. Pension Wise is a service offered by the Government and provides impartial advice. Each guidance session lasts between 45 and 60 minutes and will currently take place over the phone (rather than in person).
Call 0800 138 3944 or visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk/
The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning.
Call 0800 138 77 77 or visit www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Unfortunately, people approaching the age they want to stop working are often targeted by scammers. You’ve worked hard for your retirement savings, so make sure you don’t get caught out by a Pensions Scam.
If you’re contacted out of the blue by someone you don’t know offering you a “safe haven” for your pension, please don’t make any rushed decisions. The Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates financial advisers, has a website that allows you to search for financial advisers and companies authorised by the FCA.
There’s more useful information on avoiding pension scams on the FCA website.
Make sure you know what to look out for and how to spot an offer or a request that isn’t legitimate:
Having Life Cover means that if you were to die while still making payments to your savings pot with TPT, your loved ones would receive a sum of money. If payable, it’s normally a multiple of your salary.
Life Cover is not something that is offered to all schemes and members, but your employer may have chosen to provide cover for its members as an extra benefit.
To check if you have Life Cover and what would be payable, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
If you do have Life Cover, to help us make sure the money goes to the right people you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If you were to die before taking your TPT savings, the value of your savings pot would be paid to your loved ones as a cash sum.
Remember – to help us make sure the money goes to the right people in the event of your death, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax. If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
Other benefits may also be available through the Scheme, if you die while you’re still paying into the Scheme. To check if you have additional benefits, like Life Cover, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
To help us make sure any money payable in the event of your death goes to the right people, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax.
One of the great benefits of saving into a pension is that you have a number of tax benefits, which can either mean you:
You receive tax relief on the payments made into your retirement savings. This tax relief has allowances in itself – these are limits on how much money you can pay into your retirement savings before you start paying tax.
The allowances are all set by the Government.
Helpful tip: You can check your own personal allowance directly with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
When you first join TPT, you’ll receive a welcome letter confirming your membership number and an email/letter explaining how you can activate your online account.
After the welcome information, we’ll send you a statement every year. This will show you how much you’ve got, how much you could have and how you can help it all grow and keep on track with your goals.
If you provide us with your email address, we’ll also send you newsletters, updates from time to time, and helpful information. We believe it’s important to regularly review your choices, even if you don’t make any changes. TThat’s why, if you provide us with your email address (and you agree to it), we will also send you reminders. You can provide us with your email address by logging in to your online DC account.
Once you’re 6 months from your retirement age, we’ll send you your retirement pack which will outline all your options.
You can find out how much you've saved by logging into your online DC account and looking at your most recent benefit statement.
Once you have logged into your online DC account, you can also see where you’re currently investing and make changes at any time.
Click here for more information on registering to view and manage your account online.
You can pay up to 100% of your taxable pay in any tax year (6 April – 5 April) as pension contributions.
These contributions will be tax free as long as the total increase in your benefits in any one tax year does not exceed the Annual Allowance.
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs), are additional amounts you pay into the Scheme on top of your regular payments.
You can either choose to make a one-off lump sum payment, or arrange for regular AVCs to be deducted from your salary on top of your normal pension contribution.
You can arrange through your online DC account, or by contacting us on 0345 072 6780, or by completing an Application to Pay Additional Voluntary Contributions form.
Your Scheme guide, will let you know more about what your employer offers.
Yes. Initially, your TPT savings will automatically be invested in a 'Target Date Fund'. This kind of fund automatically changes where it’s invested the closer you get to your retirement age.
However, you don’t have to have your TPT savings invested in this option – you can make your own investment choices if you want to. Have a look at your investment options here.
If you want to make any changes, you can do so by logging into your online DC account.
Yes, all members will pay a charge to have their savings invested, and those charges are automatically included when we calculate how much your savings are worth. So you won’t see them as a separate cost when you look at the current value of your retirement savings.
There are two types of charge, which are included in the value of your retirement savings:
To find how much the charges are please check your Scheme guide.
The charges payable for other the funds are different and you can what these are by looking at the fund factsheets each fund here.
You can choose to have your TPT savings invested in a number of different options.
If you’d like to make your own investment choices, and make changes to where you were invested when you first joined, you can find out more about the different funds available here.
No, we don’t apply additional charges if you change where your TPT savings are invested.
Please note: the performance of the funds available can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Before making any investment selections, please carefully read the relevant Fund Fact Sheet.
To help you work out how much money you might need when you stop working, it may be useful to think about whether you might want more money in the early years or if you would prefer to continue to receive the same amount each year throughout your retirement.
There’s more info here on working out how much will be enough.
You’re allowed to take your TPT savings any time once you’ve reached age 55, and can still carry on working. We’ll have recorded the age you have told us you wish to take your TPT savings, and this is automatically set to 65 unless you tell us otherwise. We record this age as your Target Retirement Age.
Your Target Retirement Age does not have to tie in with your contract of employment and you can take benefits at any age from 55 if you want to. You just need to tell us when you do.
Remember: if you take your TPT savings but continue to be employed by the same company connected to your TPT savings, you will need to be assessed against the auto-enrolment criteria at your employer’s re-enrolment date. And, if assessed as an eligible worker you must be re-enrolled into the Scheme. You can then choose to opt out if you so wish, but only after you have been re-enrolled.
When you come to take your savings, you can choose one or more of the following options:
You can find out more about all these options here.
If we’re sending you information about your personal circumstances, like retiring or leaving, we’ll contact you by post. Otherwise we’ll always try to use email so we can keep you updated more regularly. This also supports our environmental values as a business.
One key piece of information, which will always be online, is your annual statement. That will be uploaded to your online DC account. We’ll email you when it’s ready for viewing.
If you’re in a TPT Scheme where you don’t have access to an online account, your statement will be sent in the post.
If we do call you, it will normally be about a personal matter and we’ll always introduce ourselves.
There are quite a few things to consider as you start to think about taking your savings. It may be helpful to speak to a financial adviser to make sure you’re making good financial decisions for your future.
There’s more information on finding a financial adviser and taking advice here.
Other places to find guidance are:
If you’re 55 or over and have DC savings (like those in the TPT Scheme), you can book a free Pension Wise guidance session to talk through your options. Pension Wise is a service offered by the Government and provides impartial advice. Each guidance session lasts between 45 and 60 minutes and will currently take place over the phone (rather than in person).
Call 0800 138 3944 or visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk/
The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning.
Call 0800 138 77 77 or visit www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Unfortunately, people approaching the age they want to stop working are often targeted by scammers. You’ve worked hard for your retirement savings, so make sure you don’t get caught out by a Pensions Scam.
If you’re contacted out of the blue by someone you don’t know offering you a “safe haven” for your pension, please don’t make any rushed decisions. The Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates financial advisers, has a website that allows you to search for financial advisers and companies authorised by the FCA.
There’s more useful information on avoiding pension scams on the FCA website.
Make sure you know what to look out for and how to spot an offer or a request that isn’t legitimate:
Having Life Cover means that if you were to die while still making payments to your savings pot with TPT, your loved ones would receive a sum of money. If payable, it’s normally a multiple of your salary.
Life Cover is not something that is offered to all schemes and members, but your employer may have chosen to provide cover for its members as an extra benefit.
To check if you have Life Cover and what would be payable, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
If you do have Life Cover, to help us make sure the money goes to the right people you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If you were to die before taking your TPT savings, the value of your savings pot would be paid to your loved ones as a cash sum.
Remember – to help us make sure the money goes to the right people in the event of your death, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax. If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
Other benefits may also be available through the Scheme, if you die while you’re still paying into the Scheme. To check if you have additional benefits, like Life Cover, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
If you were to die after you have taken your savings from the TPT Scheme, your loved ones could still be entitled to receive some benefits. This will depend on the option you choose when you come to access your TPT savings. For example, some guaranteed income options (annuities) offer the option for a pension to be paid to your spouse on your death.
To help us make sure any money payable in the event of your death goes to the right people, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax.
One of the great benefits of saving into a pension is that you have a number of tax benefits, which can either mean you:
You receive tax relief on the payments made into your retirement savings. This tax relief has allowances in itself – these are limits on how much money you can pay into your retirement savings before you start paying tax.
The allowances are all set by the Government.
Helpful tip: You can check your own personal allowance directly with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
When you first join TPT, you’ll receive a welcome letter confirming your membership number and an email/letter explaining how you can activate your online account.
After the welcome information, we’ll send you a statement every year. This will show you how much you’ve got, how much you could have and how you can help it all grow and keep on track with your goals.
If you provide us with your email address, we’ll also send you newsletters, updates from time to time, and helpful information. We believe it’s important to regularly review your choices, even if you don’t make any changes. TThat’s why, if you provide us with your email address (and you agree to it), we will also send you reminders. You can provide us with your email address by logging in to your online DC account.
Once you’re 6 months from your retirement age, we’ll send you your retirement pack which will outline all your options.
Yes. Initially, your TPT savings will automatically be invested in a 'Target Date Fund'. This kind of fund automatically changes where it’s invested the closer you get to your retirement age.
However, you don’t have to have your TPT savings invested in this option – you can make your own investment choices if you want to. Have a look at your investment options here.
If you want to make any changes, you can do so by logging into your online DC account.
Yes, all members will pay a charge to have their savings invested, and those charges are automatically included when we calculate how much your savings are worth. So you won’t see them as a separate cost when you look at the current value of your retirement savings.
There are two types of charge, which are included in the value of your retirement savings:
To find how much the charges are please check your Scheme guide.
The charges payable for other the funds are different and you can what these are by looking at the fund factsheets each fund here.
You can choose to have your TPT savings invested in a number of different options.
If you’d like to make your own investment choices, and make changes to where you were invested when you first joined, you can find out more about the different funds available here.
No, we don’t apply additional charges if you change where your TPT savings are invested.
Please note: the performance of the funds available can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Before making any investment selections, please carefully read the relevant Fund Fact Sheet.
To help you work out how much money you might need when you stop working, it may be useful to think about whether you might want more money in the early years or if you would prefer to continue to receive the same amount each year throughout your retirement.
There’s more info here on working out how much will be enough.
You’re allowed to take your TPT savings any time once you’ve reached age 55, and can still carry on working. We’ll have recorded the age you have told us you wish to take your TPT savings, and this is automatically set to 65 unless you tell us otherwise. We record this age as your Target Retirement Age.
Your Target Retirement Age does not have to tie in with your contract of employment and you can take benefits at any age from 55 if you want to. You just need to tell us when you do.
Remember: if you take your TPT savings but continue to be employed by the same company connected to your TPT savings, you will need to be assessed against the auto-enrolment criteria at your employer’s re-enrolment date. And, if assessed as an eligible worker you must be re-enrolled into the Scheme. You can then choose to opt out if you so wish, but only after you have been re-enrolled.
When you come to take your savings, you can choose one or more of the following options:
You can find out more about all these options here.
We’ll automatically contact you 6 months before the age you have told us you want to retire (this is known as your Target Retirement Age). If you’ve decided to take your savings before we have contacted you, you’ll need to get in touch with us directly and let us know your chosen retirement date.
Once you have confirmed your chosen retirement date, we’ll send you a retirement pack to explain your options and the steps you need to take.
You can find out more info about how you can take your savings here.
Your Target Retirement Age does not have to tie in with your contract of employment and you can take benefits at any age from 55 if you want to. If you’re still paying into the Scheme, you’ll need to let your employer know so they can make arrangements to stop payments into your TPT savings pot, and so there aren’t any delays in arranging your options. Taking your money from TPT does not mean you have to stop working, but you will not get any further employer contributions to your pension unless you are re-enrolled into the Scheme at a future date.
If you haven’t already, it may be the right time to talk to a financial adviser. You can find more info about how a financial adviser could help here.
Remember: if you take your TPT savings but continue to be employed by the same company connected to your TPT savings, you will need to be assessed against the auto-enrolment criteria at your employer’s re-enrolment date. And, if assessed as an eligible worker you must be re-enrolled into the Scheme. You can then choose to opt out if you so wish, but only after you have been re-enrolled. Please note, however, that once you have started taking any pension savings, your Annual Allowance (the maximum you can save with tax benefits each year) may be replaced by the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, which is currently £4,000 a year. If more than this is paid to your pension(s), you will incur a tax charge.
Yes. We’ll contact you 6 months before the retirement age you have given us, known as your Target Retirement Age. This is automatically set to 65 when you first join, but remember you can change this by logging into your online DC account.
You can find out more about what to expect here.
Your Target Retirement Age does not have to tie in with your contract of employment and you can take benefits at any age from 55 if you want to.
Remember: if you take your TPT savings but continue to be employed by the same company connected to your TPT savings, you will need to be assessed against the auto-enrolment criteria at your employer’s re-enrolment date. And, if assessed as an eligible worker you must be re-enrolled into the Scheme. You can then choose to opt out if you so wish, but only after you have been re-enrolled.
If you’ve chosen a cash lump sum (including a tax-free lump sum) this will normally be paid six to eight weeks after your retirement date via a bank transfer into the bank account you’ve chosen.
Yes. We’re happy to pay your cash lump sum into an international bank account (there’s no charge for this).
The payment will be made in Sterling.
If you leave the Scheme (either because you stop working for your employer, or because you choose to stop paying in) your savings will stay in the Scheme until you wish to take them or transfer them to another provider.
You don’t need to let us know you’re leaving the Scheme – your employer will do this for you.
Further information will be sent to you after you leave, but if you’d like to know more now click here.
Remember, if you decide to leave the Scheme and keep working for your employer you’ll usually automatically re-join the Scheme after about three years, although you can opt out if you wish.
If you leave the Scheme, you’ll be able to transfer your savings if:
If your new pension scheme is still with TPT, you may be able to claim continuous service - as long as you start new employment within 30 days of leaving the Scheme. You can find out more by getting in touch.
To transfer your benefits to another pension scheme you’ll need to contact your new employer (or private pension provider) who will be able to explain what information they need from us.
Once you’ve spoken to them, you should contact us and we will talk you through the process.
You can take your benefits at any time from the age of 55.
If you are under the age of 55 and are unable to work because of ill health, you may be able to take your savings from the Scheme immediately, regardless of your age. We will check if you’re allowed to take early payment of your retirement savings because of ill health. Our decision will be based on medical advice and evidence.
You can request more information by logging in to your account, or you can contact us.
If we’re sending you information about your personal circumstances, like retiring or leaving, we’ll contact you by post. Otherwise we’ll always try to use email so we can keep you updated more regularly. This also supports our environmental values as a business.
One key piece of information, which will always be online, is your annual statement. That will be uploaded to your online DC account. We’ll email you when it’s ready for viewing.
If you’re in a TPT Scheme where you don’t have access to an online account, your statement will be sent in the post.
If we do call you, it will normally be about a personal matter and we’ll always introduce ourselves.
There are quite a few things to consider as you start to think about taking your savings. It may be helpful to speak to a financial adviser to make sure you’re making good financial decisions for your future.
There’s more information on finding a financial adviser and taking advice here.
Other places to find guidance are:
If you’re 55 or over and have DC savings (like those in the TPT Scheme), you can book a free Pension Wise guidance session to talk through your options. Pension Wise is a service offered by the Government and provides impartial advice. Each guidance session lasts between 45 and 60 minutes and will currently take place over the phone (rather than in person).
Call 0800 138 3944 or visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk/
The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning.
Call 0800 138 77 77 or visit www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Unfortunately, people approaching the age they want to stop working are often targeted by scammers. You’ve worked hard for your retirement savings, so make sure you don’t get caught out by a Pensions Scam.
If you’re contacted out of the blue by someone you don’t know offering you a “safe haven” for your pension, please don’t make any rushed decisions. The Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates financial advisers, has a website that allows you to search for financial advisers and companies authorised by the FCA.
There’s more useful information on avoiding pension scams on the FCA website.
Make sure you know what to look out for and how to spot an offer or a request that isn’t legitimate:
Having Life Cover means that if you were to die while still making payments to your savings pot with TPT, your loved ones would receive a sum of money. If payable, it’s normally a multiple of your salary.
Life Cover is not something that is offered to all schemes and members, but your employer may have chosen to provide cover for its members as an extra benefit.
To check if you have Life Cover and what would be payable, please check your welcome letter, Scheme documents or speak to your employer.
If you do have Life Cover, to help us make sure the money goes to the right people you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If you were to die after you have taken your savings from the TPT Scheme, your loved ones could still be entitled to receive some benefits. This will depend on the option you choose when you come to access your TPT savings. For example, some guaranteed income options (annuities) offer the option for a pension to be paid to your spouse on your death.
To help us make sure any money payable in the event of your death goes to the right people, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax.
One of the great benefits of saving into a pension is that you have a number of tax benefits, which can either mean you:
You receive tax relief on the payments made into your retirement savings. This tax relief has allowances in itself – these are limits on how much money you can pay into your retirement savings before you start paying tax.
The allowances are all set by the Government.
Helpful tip: You can check your own personal allowance directly with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Not at all. The earlier you start to pay into a pension, the more likely you’ll be to reach your retirement savings goal. Remember - pensions are long-term savings, so a little now is better than nothing at all.
You can find out more about working out what to contribute here.
Neither you nor your employer will normally pay contributions for your period of unpaid leave.
You can find more information specific to your employers’ scheme in your Scheme guide or by speaking to your employer.
If we’re sending you information about your personal circumstances, like retiring or leaving, we’ll contact you by post. Otherwise we’ll always try to use email so we can keep you updated more regularly. This also supports our environmental values as a business.
One key piece of information, which will always be online, is your annual statement. That will be uploaded to your online DC account. We’ll email you when it’s ready for viewing.
If you’re in a TPT Scheme where you don’t have access to an online account, your statement will be sent in the post.
If we do call you, it will normally be about a personal matter and we’ll always introduce ourselves.
There are quite a few things to consider as you start to think about taking your savings. It may be helpful to speak to a financial adviser to make sure you’re making good financial decisions for your future.
There’s more information on finding a financial adviser and taking advice here.
Other places to find guidance are:
If you’re 55 or over and have DC savings (like those in the TPT Scheme), you can book a free Pension Wise guidance session to talk through your options. Pension Wise is a service offered by the Government and provides impartial advice. Each guidance session lasts between 45 and 60 minutes and will currently take place over the phone (rather than in person).
Call 0800 138 3944 or visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk/
The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning.
Call 0800 138 77 77 or visit www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Unfortunately, people approaching the age they want to stop working are often targeted by scammers. You’ve worked hard for your retirement savings, so make sure you don’t get caught out by a Pensions Scam.
If you’re contacted out of the blue by someone you don’t know offering you a “safe haven” for your pension, please don’t make any rushed decisions. The Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates financial advisers, has a website that allows you to search for financial advisers and companies authorised by the FCA.
There’s more useful information on avoiding pension scams on the FCA website.
Make sure you know what to look out for and how to spot an offer or a request that isn’t legitimate:
Your monthly payments into your TPT savings receive tax relief. This means for a basic rate tax-payer, every £10 you pay only costs you £8 as £2 is tax relief.
Also as payment are taken from your gross pay (before any tax is deducted) by your employer, it’s all done automatically for you. This is known as a Net Pay arrangement. If you do not pay income tax, you will be unable to benefit from this tax relief.
You can find out more about tax relief here.
To help us make sure any money payable in the event of your death goes to the right people, you must complete a Nomination Form. You can complete this in a number of ways:
If your circumstances change or you’ve changed your mind about who you would like to nominate, it’s important to update your Nomination Form regularly. This will help TPT decide who to pay your savings to.
When you die, the Trustee will make the final decision about who receives your TPT savings. However, they will look at your nominations(s) when making their decision. Under current law this allows the money to be paid free of Inheritance Tax.
One of the great benefits of saving into a pension is that you have a number of tax benefits, which can either mean you:
You receive tax relief on the payments made into your retirement savings. This tax relief has allowances in itself – these are limits on how much money you can pay into your retirement savings before you start paying tax.
The allowances are all set by the Government.
Helpful tip: You can check your own personal allowance directly with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The Annual Allowance is the cap set by the Government. It sets out how much you can save into a pension each tax year, and receive tax relief.
Your Annual Allowance includes all payments to your retirement savings made by you, your employer and any third party (including pension tax relief).
More information and how it can apply to you can be found here.
If you’re paying into the Scheme, and you pay tax on your income, you will receive tax relief on your payments.
Your employer’s payroll deducts your contributions from your gross pay (rather than your net pay). Gross pay is the amount your employer is paying you before any tax has been deducted - you will be able to see this on your pay slip.
This means that your pay (after the deduction of pension contributions) will be lower and so you’ll pay less tax on your contributions. This is sometimes known as a Net Pay arrangement and for most members avoids the process of having to make a claim with HMRC.
If you earn over £200,000, you might be subject to the lower ‘Tapered Annual Allowance’. In this case, the more you earn, the lower your annual allowance.
If your total earnings are £312,000 or more, you will have an Annual Allowance of £4,000, which will not reduce any further.
You can find out more about this on the Government’s website.
Or to check if you have an Annual Allowance tax charge on your retirement savings, click here.
The Lifetime Allowance is the total amount of retirement savings you can build up in all pension arrangements without incurring extra tax charges. It applies when you come to take your savings.
Further information can be found here.
This is a reduced Annual Allowance of £4,000 known as a Money Purchase Annual Allowance (or MPAA) that will apply to you if you:
If this applies to you, the pension provider that pays you either of the above options should provide you with a statement informing you that the MPAA applies to you. It’s then your responsibility to tell us that the MPAA should be applied.
If your employer decides to withdraw from the Scheme, you’ll also leave the Scheme and become a deferred member on the day your employer officially withdraws.
Becoming a deferred member means you won’t pay any more into the Scheme, but your TPT savings will continue to be invested until you access them or choose to move them to another pension arrangement.
You don’t need to let us know you’re leaving the Scheme – your employer will do this for you. Further information will be sent to you after you leave, and if you’d like to understand more click here.
If you’re not happy with something, we’d really like to talk to you about this first of all. You can find out how to get in touch with us here.
If you have a question about your personal situations connected to your TPT savings, or if you haven't found the information you’re looking for here, please get in touch. You can find all the information you need to do that here.
You can find out more about TPT and how they look after your retirement savings here.
The Trustee Company, Verity Trustees Ltd (the Trustee), is responsible for ensuring that TPT operates lawfully and within the provisions of the formal Trust Deed and Rules that govern the Scheme.
There are currently 9 Directors of the Trustee - three elected by members, three elected by employers and three co-opted by the elected Directors.
Investments are managed independently by external authorised fund managers. Investment performance is reviewed regularly by the Trustee’s Investment Committee.
The day-to-day administration is entrusted to TPT Retirement Solutions which has been administering pension schemes since 1946. TPT is directly answerable to its members - the employers who choose its pension schemes and the active, pensioner and deferred members who belong to these schemes.
The data provided by individuals or their employers, or obtained with the consent of individuals, will be used by us, our Actuary and any necessary third parties as required, allowing the Trustee to properly administer the Scheme. TPT Retirement Solutions will not sell your data to any third party.
Personal data that we hold will be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (Regulations (EU) 2016/679), the Data Protection Act 2018 and any laws or regulations implementing EU Directives 95/46/EC (Data Protection Directive) or 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directive). The Data Controller (or Controller) is Verity Trustees Ltd.
Data will be held for as long as necessary to allow the Trustee to answer questions relating to members' benefits.
The Trustee takes appropriate measures to ensure that your personal data is held securely.
For more information please have a look at our privacy policy: https://www.tpt.org.uk/privacy-policy