As a member of the Fund you build up a pension of 1/70th of your pensionable salary for each year you are a member of the Fund, payable from age 65. More details can be found in the Fund booklet and factsheets on the Documents and Forms page.

The Normal Retirement Age for pension built up from 1 April 2007 is 65. Pension earned before 1 April 2007 can be taken from age 60, but if you have pension before and after 1 April 2007, you must take both parts at the same time. You can normally retire before or after your Normal Retirement Age, subject to certain restrictions. More details can be found in the Fund booklet and factsheets on the Documents and Forms page.

If you work for USDAW and would like to join the Fund, please contact the HR team at USDAW.

If you are an active member of the Fund, you can get an estimate using the online Pension Modeller, which can be found in the Members section of this website. If you are a deferred member of the Fund, please contact the Fund administrators using the details on the “Contact Us” page of this website.

If you are thinking of retiring, please contact the Fund administrators using the details on the “Contact Us” page of this website. They will provide you with an estimate of your pension, and the forms you need to complete.

You can choose to pay extra contributions to build up additional pension benefits. These Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are invested separately from the Fund. Your AVC pot will be invested, so the value can go down as well as up and you might get back less than you put in. More information on the investment options can be found on the Documents and Forms page.

You have several choices in how you take your AVC benefits. Subject to HMRC limits, you can use your AVCs to provide some, or all, of your tax-free cash at retirement. Alternatively, you can transfer you AVC pot to an insurance company, where you can buy an annuity, take it all as cash or make gradual withdrawals.

If you wish to nominate a beneficiary or update your nomination, please complete the Expression of Wish form which can be found on the Documents and Forms page on this website.

Your State Pension Age depends on your gender and when you were born. You can find out your State Pension Age on the following website: https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y

You can contact the Fund administrators on the “Contact Us” page of this website to ask any questions that haven’t been covered on this page.