Teachers pension or open a Vanguard or similar

[New2ctc]

If I have £150-200 per month, I can either pay as extra into a small teacher's pension (I already pay in 7% I think) or should I branch out & start a private one, like Vanguard or similar?
I am a pension novice. All I know if that the TP one is index linked, but to buy (for example) an extra £1000 per year in my pension aged 67+ would cost me £12000 lump sum now.

I have 20 yrs til am 67.

Pension Wizards, help me!

I'm no pension expert but I'm in the Teachers Pension Scheme and think it's probably a lot more reliable than any private pension so would max that out as much as you can. I do Faster Accrual which might be worth looking into.

Are you already putting money in to ISA?

TPS is great but you may want to reduce the amount of work you do as you get older, so you may need access to money in your 50's.

@nannynick

Are you already putting money in to ISA? TPS is great but you may want to reduce the amount of work you do as you get older, so you may need access to money in your 50's.

Currently teachers can access their pensions at 55, but that is rising slowly in line with the rise in the retirement age.

Not an ISA, only just started saving. I just opened a monthly saver with my building society at 3.5% for a year, so I'm transferring the max each month (£6k is total allowed per year.) When this matures I'll put all into an ISA.

I can buy extra units of pension. £1000 extra pension a year costs between £12-13k.
It's unaffordable but I could buy £250 (smallest unit they have) for £3.5 - 4k spread over several years to make it affordable.
I don't think I can do salary sacrifice via TPS, so the additional units I buy will be with money I've already paid tax on, which is rubbish.

I don't trust Teachers Pensions to be any good in 20yrs tbh, they just change the rules when they like

You get tax relief on salary paying into Teachers Pension. My vote is for Teachers Pension.

@RummidgeGeneral - You also get tax relief on paying into a personal pension

I think I can only pay in the max, 7% of my part-time wage, but if I live like a church mouse I have a bit left and I want to know the best place to put that too, to access it in 20yrs.

@New2ctc

I don't trust Teachers Pensions to be any good in 20yrs tbh, they just change the rules when they like

Remember that the TPS is pretty well protected with union power. I think it will always be a better bet than a private pension.

7.4% of my wage. It goes up again at £28k which is a long way from where I currently am, to 8.6%.

Do you know if I can pay in extra through my county council payroll too?

I've emailed to ask, but am a long time waiting for them to reply!

Have a look on the TPS. Under ‘Planning Retirement’, they have a little calculator and different ways to increase it.

I can’t remember exactly, but there is faster accrual, lump sum and one other thing. So you can increase the amount you pay monthly (will look properly later)!

Here’s a link to the NEU pensions advice.
neu.org.uk/pensions

Weslyan will also give imperial advice on how to improve your pension.
www.wesleyan.co.uk/secure/teachers-pension-scheme?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpdT9ndDY8AIVC9xRCh25Mw0REAMYASAAEgISP_D_BwE

The TPS will not give you advice - they are not allowed to do this. They can give information on your current pension status or how you can increase your teachers pension.
www.teacherspensions.co.uk/-/media/documents/member/factsheets/managing-your-pension/member-flexibilities-v10-0315.ashx?rev=f5ea43c7084e4fc9807697a811f74814&hash=17EBB65E4E6F668BA304D28AB246C18D