Pensions for the financially illiterate

[damekindness]

I am a little bit ashamed to admit that I only vaguely grasp ( that is actually have no clue) exactly what the different parts of the USS pension actually mean. I don't know my DB from my DC and have not a clue what a financial builder thing is. I can use the modeller to see how much I would get according to when I might retire - which is likely to be when I reach state pension age in 7 years time

Can anyone recommend a stupidly simple resource?

This is the government website - when doing pensions quotes we have to point members to it.

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement

Your best bet is to get a financial advisor who will do a free of charge pensions review for you, to let you know what your current schemes will likely provide.

There are also government resources available to explain simply what it's all about and how not to get scammed www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise

Hope this helps

@TheNemesisOfLame cross post

Thank you!

It looks like even I can grasp the information on that site

Do you have your annual statement? You can also sign up to ‘my Uss’ here to get up to date figures www.uss.co.uk/

You should get annual statements from USS. Essentially salary under about £55k is the defined benefit part and each year of service buys you an 80th (ish I think) of your average (with some years final salary if you've been in it a while) salary as a guaranteed index linked pension and lump sum.

Earnings over £55k go into the cash builder pot with which you either buy an annuity or draw down a chunk each year.

Pension wise won't help btw. They're only for dc schemes.