How much should DM be receiving each month from teacher's pension after 23 years service?

[BaffledOnceAgain]

My mum took out her teacher's pension when she had children. However, she then returned to the profession and worked a further 23 years full-time. I know it's not a clearcut answer, but for a general class teacher who retired in 2011 after 23 years of teaching, can anyone tell me roughly what she should receive each week or month please from the TPS? She is struggling for money and I'm trying to help, but she's not keen to burden me with it. She's decided broccoli is a luxury she can't buy every week!! She should also get some State pension I presume (but not a full one)?

@BaffledOnceAgain a couple of the things to bear in mind is that teachers pensions are index linked and so rise at different rates to earnings. For example last April it is likely she got a 10.1% rise.

Your Mum may have paid the MW reduced rathe NI so not built up state pension in her own name. She may have eligibility from your Dad if she is widowed or divorced.

Standard accural rate is 1/57th on career average but the OP's mother is more likely to have been on final salary. In that case it was 1/60th if her normal retirement age was 65 and 1/80th if her normal retirement age was 60.

Even teachers paying the maximum additional contributions every year can't reach a 1/43rd accural rate.

Your mum is the same age as me - she should be getting the old basic state pension (around 8k per year) at least - which needed 39 years of full NI contributions to get the full amount.

Credits for being home with children may not have been available dependent on WHEN she had her children.

Did she inherit state pension rights from her husband if she missed too many years?

I would suggest that she lets you look at all her outgoings - pets and smokling are expensive.

I manage on a total income after tax of £1400 per month and would not touch equity release with a bargepole.

Was she/ is she in a union? They often have free financial advice. The NASUWT has an agreement with Wesleyan and I recently had a very useful meeting with their pensions specialist.

To get a full teachers pension (which is approximately 50% of final salary) you need to have paid in for 40 years. I retired after 20 years and received a teachers pensoin of approximately 25% of my final salary. There is also a lump sum paid. Disclaimer: teachers pensions are now based on career average salary as opposed to final salary but this would not be the case for anyone retiring when the OPs MIL did

This, with bells on. You need to find out if she was actually in it or not. Auto enrolment is a relatively new arrangement and it's not at all guaranteed that she was part of the TPS at alll.

I think this was the case. She divorced when I was 10 as well and never had another partner.

I believe she was.

Not sure where these amazing TP pensions are coming from. I’ve paid in for 26 years and am projected £18000

This seems far too high. How are you splitting that into TP and SP?

Really, the only way she can find out would be to contact her pension provider and find out. When she retired she would have got the paperwork with a break down of her contributions and the amount she would receive annually.
Her state pension is a separate issue and she will have to look on the government website and follow the instructions to check her contributions. If she is 77 I think she would be in the group that needs 30 years full contributions to get full state pension. She needs her NI number to start with then follow the instructions to get a gateway number.
As pp have said, if she can't manage herself, she is going to have to give you the information to help her.
It is really important to do though as she could be missing out on money she is entitled to.

There are some good benefits calculator websites eg entitledto.co.uk. Once you know or can estimate her income you can input the details to see if she is eligible for any further benefits eg Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance depending on her health.

If she has taken equity release I think it’s safe to assume she may not have made the most sensible financial decisions. I hope she lets you help OP! She could live another 10/15 years but probably won’t want to in that level of poverty

She is the same age as me - back then women needed 39 years and men 44 years for the full pension. The 30 years was a blip (not retrospective) before it became 35 years!

Typo

Age Uk can do a benefit check but obviously she would need to be willing to share information. It's unlikely with a state pension and private pension that she would qualify for pension credit but does depend on amounts.

@BaffledOnceAgain and a previous poster, the figures quoted are based on MIL, who taught for about 25 years although the last ten were as a primary head. I believe her annual teachers pension and state pension is just north of £25k, plus she has a widows pension.

She lives in the family home, has the heating on and eats well. She saves up.

I think you need a break down of your mother's income and outgoings.

Regarding meds for animals. The vet can usually issue a prescription, there is a small charge, and the meds can be bought much more cheaply on-line. Pets are hugely expensive and people under-estimate it. A cat is £150pcm with good food, vaccinations, flea treatments and insurance.

The equity thing needs looking at. Has she had loads of money and spent it, and having run out is now economising.

This is a 'how long is a piece of string question' OP - you need your DM to share the exact figures with you. Does she still have paper statements? If so, that might make your job easier, but if not you'll need her login details, her plan numbers, her NI number, passwords, etc. Once you have those things you can go online and figure out what she's getting and what else she may be entitled to, such as pension credit, if she is on a low income. Any pension scheme she is enrolled with will have a website which will show you her total pot and the annual amount it yields, or perhaps she bought an annuity? As for any additional benefits she is due, check the this website https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

You need to check her outgoings too - maybe there are savings that can be made on bills, direct debits and standing orders. These are things that should be reviewed regularly and more cost-effective solutions sought, if possible. People who have stayed with the same provider for years for their phone, gas, electricity, insurance, etc, can really be ripped off by just clicking the 'auto-renew' button without checking to see that there isn't a better deal. The https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ website is really helpful if you're searching for better deals on goods and services.

To get 27 to 35k pa coming in from a pension she paid into for 23 years, she would either have been earning well over 100k a year, or wacking a load extra in every month.

What age was she OP when she finally retired from teaching after the 23 years? This will be relevant because if she took the pension before NPA (normal pension age) for her scheme it would have been actuarially reduced. Did she wait til 60 to retire again?

My my retired at about 56 and was a teacher for about 30 years. The amount she got in her bank each month was about £900 give or take and state pension was similar amount. My mum was pretty savvy so it will have been correct.

My dad worked in a SEN school and had a teachers pension. It's one of the best out there. He had part LA and part TPA, It was a fair amount a month. Not sure how much but my mum still gets a portion of it and it looks like it's around £400 a month, and thst just a proportion of the whole. I left teaching 7 years ago and paid in for 20 years. My pension estimate 15 years off retirement with 2 maternity leaves is around 10k a year. My mum and my MIL are loaded but still say they have no money. Is it that? It is probably worth looking into. My mum was paying a fortune into a boiler repair scheme, sports channels on Virgin she never watched, all dirty of things.

@Notamum12345577 that estimate included the state pension and was based on full-time for 23 years. The occupational pension paid on retirement will have been subject to index linked increases.

Pension calculations are complex but in today's money, a qualified teacher with, conservatively £37,000pa with 23 years' contributions should be on a pension of approximately £14,500 plus £9800 state pension - a bit under my initial estimate but would not attract much tax and should be enough to live on and quite well for one person with no rent or mortgage.

There will be more to this than meets the eye. You can't spend more than comes in so perhaps the lady needs to contact an animal rescue and cut down smoking.

Can’t you just look at her bank statement? It will be on there as a monthly payment in.

I do wonder if she actually paid in, as if she did she should have enough to live on, especially with state pension as well.