You can apply for your pension up to four months before you’d like it to start. It’s still never too early to start ticking the boxes off your retirement preparation checklist.
Here are three steps you can take today to get closer to retirement tomorrow.
1. Upload your documents
Once you hit submit on your pension application, our team gets to work making sure your first pension payment is on time. One of the biggest stumbling blocks in making that happen is missing documents from your file.
It’s never too early to sign in to your account, check for alerts for outstanding documents, and use the uploader tool in your Document Centre. Do this today and you’ll be in great shape when you’re ready to submit your application.
2. Review your service and salary
Check your service record for any outstanding buybacks and incomplete transfers. Paying for a buyback or transferring credit in from another plan will increase the value of your pension. Even if you decide not to move forward with either option, we’ll still need to know before we can pay your pension.
3. Get to know the re-employment rules
If you're thinking about returning for a victory lap as a supply teacher, take some time to familiarize yourself with the re-employment rules.
You may even consider pausing your pension one day and returning to work full time. If you want to contribute to your pension again and have it recalculated, you can’t have any previous re-employment service. You must notify us before you return to work in education in any capacity, even occasional or supply work. Keep this in mind as you plan for retirement.