If I opt out of the Teachers Pension Scheme, will the deduction to TPS shown on my pay slip go to me?
Hi, yes it will. You will keep 14.1% from then on instead of paying it into your pension. Remember though that the 14.1% is the Gross amount – it will be liable to tax and national insurance before it is paid into your bank! (Income tax deducted will be 20% or 40% depending on how high your salary is, national insurance I believe will be 11%). If clawing back money in this way isn’t going to make much difference to your fund, you might as well carry on letting them take the deduction until you leave/move – because your employer will continue to make their contributions too. (I don’t know but I assume it is a good pension fund because it is for teachers. I know more about tax than I do pensions.) Another thing you could look into is checking with the scheme if they will allow you to have back some/all the contributions that you have made in the past. (Personally I wouldn’t do this unless I had too).
