I've worked in education for the last 6 years. Unfortunately, for the first five years I didn't contribute to the Local Government final salary scheme. I worked 5 years at a college followed by 2.5 years at a university, where I am now. I'm 32 and aware that I need to create a decent pension. I intend staying where I am for another year and a half. Is it worth making a large AVC increase?
I'm not really sure how these things work and am wondering whether only working there for four years will count against me at retirement.
Was that by choice? You almost certainly lost out on a large employer contribution, plus tax relief, so if it was anyone who advised you you would have a claim for mis-selling. I would expect you had to opt out explicitly, didn't you get warnings from them that it was a bad idea?
Ask them about buying added years, that may be a good option, but it will be a lot more expensive than if you'd contributed at the time! A year and a half of contributions will not make a huge difference in itself, it depends what you do next. Normally you need 40 years credit to get the maximum pension, starting at 31 you're unlikely to do that, although retirement ages may go up.
Again, it depends what you do next. If you leave a final salary scheme you will get a preserved pension based on your salary at leaving, uprated for inflation, which will likely be a lot lower than your final salary would be if you stayed. Or you can transfer it to another scheme. If it's another public sector employer you will get something like year-for-year credit, otherwise you will need someone to analyse whether it's worthwhile to transfer. It's not an easy thing to judge because it depends on your future salary up to retirement, which you probably can't estimate very well ...
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