Most school teaching assistants, office staff and support staff are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), administered locally through the Wiltshire Pension Fund. This is a valuable workplace pension, but it can be complex and difficult to fully understand without specialist guidance.

We provide clear support on the Wiltshire Pension Fund to help school staff understand how their pension works and how it fits into their wider financial and retirement planning.

The Local Government Pension Scheme is a defined benefit pension arrangement. The LGPS changed from a final salary scheme to a career average scheme on 1 April 2014. Depending on when you first joined, you may have:

• Final Salary Scheme benefits built up before April 2014
• Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) Scheme benefits built up from April 2014 onwards

Each scheme has different rules and considerations. Understanding how these different elements work together is key to effective retirement planning.

Our support includes:

• Explaining LGPS and Wiltshire Pension Fund benefits in plain English
• Helping you understand projected retirement income
• Advising on retirement timing and options
• Integrating LGPS benefits with other pensions, savings and investments

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.