Pension Planning March 2014 Issue 46 (Age 16 - 35 FEMALE) | Page 6

t ha W e ar TING COS ME T he core principles which the Scheme has been designed around are that there should be no increase in the cost of the Scheme to the majority of its membership. The average contribution rate across all funds will remain at 6.5%, however one important change to note is the way part time members will have their contribution rate assessed. Contribution rates will be determined by actual pay and not whole time equivalent pay. This could mean many of our part time members will pay less. The following table shows the 9 different contribution bands rating between 5.5% and 12.5%. Pay bands will be increased every April in line with the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation. In general it will be the higher paid members of the Scheme who will contribute more. E ach April, your employer will determine your contribution rate for each employment by matching your actual pensionable pay to the appropriate band in the contributions table. If your pay changes during the year, your employer may decide to review your contribution rate. If this results in a change to your contribution rate, they will let you know. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is you will still continue to receive tax relief on your pension contributions and pay a lower rate of National Insurance. To achieve this, your pension contributions are deducted from your pay before you pay tax or National Insurance. Example 1 A full time teaching assistant with an annual pen