Pensions - University USS vs Civil Service

RoyMi6 · 3 Mar 2022 at 06:46

I've been presented with a potential opportunity and just trying to do my best at comparing the long term benefits.

For anyone not in the know, USS pension scheme is currently under scrutiny, but, for the sake of argument, assuming nothing changes how does it currently compare to working for the Scottish Government and the Civil Service pension scheme they offer?

Currently work for a University so the Civil Service one, on the surface, looks quite good - less contributions from me, more from them. But because I'm not yet a member I don't seem to have access to any calculators etc.

Anyone able to give any insight?

Thanks in advance!

niggyg · 7 Mar 2022 at 21:33

USS contributions got cut a little while back (2017 ish?). It doesn't seem so great anymore.

booyaka · 10 Mar 2022 at 14:13

Both are still as good as you get.... Any DB scheme is rare these days.

I wouldn't based your job/career choices between these two on the pension - look at other benefits/downsides etc.

RoyMi6 · 11 Mar 2022 at 09:29

Yeah, I'm not making the entire decision based entirely on this. I'm doing my due diligence for everything, but this is just one aspect I'm having difficulty accessing the numbers to really compare.

Bickaxe · 12 Mar 2022 at 18:15

Civil service pension isn't as good as it used to be.
I haven't looked at it for a while but I think its still based on final salary so not bad if you are a lifer or get a promotion before you retire.

Personally I would go with the pay and keep in mind that civil service is one more on a pay freeze in a world of everything getting more expensive.

I'm looking to leave it behind if I can.

Noxia · 12 Mar 2022 at 19:35

The alpha pension is the one where you get 2.xx % of your average annual earnings per year. That's the default one I was put on to but there are some others.

Gammawolf · 24 Mar 2022 at 15:14

Bickaxe said:
Civil service pension isn't as good as it used to be.
I haven't looked at it for a while but I think its still based on final salary so not bad if you are a lifer or get a promotion before you retire.

Personally I would go with the pay and keep in mind that civil service is one more on a pay freeze in a world of everything getting more expensive.

I'm looking to leave it behind if I can.

As mentioned by Noxia its now % based on yearly salary. So depends on which job you're in and how quickly you can max your earnings. I keep seeing jobs with various depts that are IT related going for upwards of 50k. You could get experience in the field and be in that kind of job at 25 - 30 easily. That paired with the alpha scheme seems like pretty decent pension prospects to me? If i'm not missing something a single year can net you over 1.1k per year as pension which is inflation linked - do a 10 year stint, even with no pay rises you're looking at guaranteed yearly pension of over 11k in todays money? The only issue i'm facing is they say 2.32% of pensionable pay, which i don't know if its different to basic pay or like qualifying earnings with a lower and max thresholds or some other number.

RoyMi6 · 8 Apr 2022 at 14:15

Sorry, I wasn't getting notifications for any replies! Thanks folks.

I've found the calculator for the CS one: https://www.civilservicepensionsche...re/tools-and-calculators/pension-calculators/
USS one is here for reference as well: https://www.uss.co.uk/for-members/calculate-your-benefits

Bickaxe said:
Civil service pension isn't as good as it used to be.
I haven't looked at it for a while but I think its still based on final salary so not bad if you are a lifer or get a promotion before you retire.

Personally I would go with the pay and keep in mind that civil service is one more on a pay freeze in a world of everything getting more expensive.

I'm looking to leave it behind if I can.

Yeah, I don't think any pension scheme is ever going to be as they were. Problem is that the USS one is on the brink of being hammered again so I've very much looking at a sudden reduction in the value of my pension happening where I currently am. Universities are very much in the same position as the CS so we're only ever seeing 1% increases at the moment as well. I appreciate people will always have reasons to move on, but this new role is going to allow me to specialise and gain a couple of relevant qualifications that I hope will benefit me in the long run. Really looking forward to it at the moment - even if it's "rose tinted glasses" at the moment :cool:

Noxia said:
The alpha pension is the one where you get 2.xx % of your average annual earnings per year. That's the default one I was put on to but there are some others.

From what I can see the Alpha scheme is the only one I'm eligible for. The calculators say I'm not eligible if I select anything else. Everything else seems to only be applicable if you were on it before.

Gammawolf said:
As mentioned by Noxia its now % based on yearly salary. So depends on which job you're in and how quickly you can max your earnings. I keep seeing jobs with various depts that are IT related going for upwards of 50k. You could get experience in the field and be in that kind of job at 25 - 30 easily. That paired with the alpha scheme seems like pretty decent pension prospects to me? If i'm not missing something a single year can net you over 1.1k per year as pension which is inflation linked - do a 10 year stint, even with no pay rises you're looking at guaranteed yearly pension of over 11k in todays money? The only issue i'm facing is they say 2.32% of pensionable pay, which i don't know if its different to basic pay or like qualifying earnings with a lower and max thresholds or some other number.

I THINK when they're referring to pensionable pay it's because of various supplements that can be given. So I don't think the £4k supplement that many of the DDaT roles have would be counted, but I don't see why it wouldn't count the whole of my base salary. I think it's just very specific wording to account for that kind of stuff.

Von Luck · 25 Apr 2022 at 21:18

Pensionable pay is pretty much your whole salary, it may vary between departments but when we recruit for DDaT roles any 'extra' to get the right recruits is just a bump over base rate for the grade and included in main salary, rather than being a separate allowance. Pay bumps this year still stuck in the 1-2% region, only way to get a decent increase is promotion. If you're good and willing to move between departments it can be fairly easy to jump a few grades.

Alpha scheme is intended to save the government cash over the final salary classic scheme and is payable at 67, rather than 60 for classic. Still a good scheme though and provides more flexibility with regard to taking a lump sum or not. All new entrants go onto Alpha, existing civil servants retained the contributions they built up in the final salary classic scheme up to 2015 and began accruing Alpha benefits from that date. Doesn't make much difference to me and if I chose to retire after 60 I'd actually be better off.