With AVCs you pay extra contributions into your fund's AVC plan.
The benefits
- AVCs don't buy an amount of pension but build up a fund value which you can then use to buy benefits at retirement.
- You can take your whole AVC pot as a lump sum if you take it at the same time as your main LGPS benefits and the total lump sum (AVC pot + LGPS Lump sum added together) is not more than 25% of the total value of your overall benefits.
- You can choose the benefits that you purchase at the time of your retirement such as whether a spouse’s pension is payable and whether your pension increases in line with inflation or not.
What if I die – is there any extra death cover?
No – but if you die, the pension pot you have built up will be paid out as a death grant. Please note that it may be possible to pay AVCs to buy life cover only – Prudential offers this, and if you are interested, you should contact them about it if your fund uses them as a provider.
Flexible payments and investment options
- You choose how much you want to pay each pay period.
- Contributions are flexible
- The amount you pay in and the investment option you choose will affect the amount you build up in your pension pot.
- If you pay tax, deductions taken from your salary will receive automatic tax relief.
The AVC Provider offers a range of investment funds for you to choose from. AVCs are a form of investment and so there are no guarantees, the value of your fund could go down as well as up. Administration charges apply to your AVC fund - your provider will tell you what the charges are.
If you stop paying or leave employment
- You can stop paying AVC contributions at any time by contacting your AVC provider. The AVC fund you've built up will continue to rise and fall with the fluctuation in investment returns.
- If you retire because of ill health from active employment you won't receive any enhancement to your AVC fund.
- If you leave before your LGPS benefits are payable your AVC fund will remain invested. You'll be able to use your AVC fund to get additional pension benefits when the rest of your benefits are paid.
- If at the time you leave employment you are only entitled to a refund of your contributions, your AVC fund will also be refunded.
Shared cost salary sacrifice AVCs
Your employer can also pay towards your AVC at their discretion. This is known as a shared cost AVC. Your employer may offer a shared cost AVC through a salary sacrifice arrangement. You do not pay tax or National Insurance contributions on the AVC contributions paid through a salary sacrifice arrangement. Your employer also benefits because they pay lower national insurance contributions.
Check with your employer whether they offer a shared cost AVC scheme.
Important changes coming if you pay into a shared cost salary sacrifice AVC plan
The government has announced that from April 2029, only the first £2,000 of employee pension contributions made through salary sacrifice each year will be exempt from National Insurance Contributions (NIC).
Any amount paid into an AVC through a salary sacrifice plan above £2,000 will be subject to National Insurance Contributions at your usual rate from April 2029. This will be deducted automatically by your employer. If you pay less than £2,000 a year into an AVC via salary sacrifice then you won't be affected by this change.
You will continue to receive income tax relief on any salary sacrificed pension contributions.
Salary sacrifice car schemes
Under a car salary sacrifice scheme, you have the opportunity to lease a car through your employer in exchange for by reducing your gross pay. There are advantages to using this scheme, as you will pay less tax and National Insurance as a result of earning less.
Because the car salary sacrifice scheme is non-pensionable, which means that any pay you reduce in exchange for the leasing of a car will not be protected from a pensions point of view, you will also reduce your pension savings when using this scheme. This is because the lower pay (post salary sacrifice) will be used to calculate the value of your pension benefits. This could have an impact on both your final salary benefits (benefits accrued prior to 1st April 2014), and the current build up of your CARE benefits.
So in summary, it is a tax-efficient way to purchase a new car, but it can reduce your total retirement income.
Find out more
If you're interested and for more information about the AVC plans your fund has, read more below below:
