Teachers get stakeholder option

Fifteen teaching associations have set up the Teachers' National Stakeholder Pension Scheme (TNSPS) under the TUC Stakeholder Pension Scheme.

The TNSPS is designed to supplement the benefits of the main Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) by providing teachers earning less than £30,000 with another way to top-up their occupational scheme benefits. It is not a replacement for the final salary TPS. Neither is it designed to supersede the current AVC arrangements.

Tens of thousands of teachers currently earn less than £30,000 a year and could benefit from this new initiative. Information about the new scheme is currently being mailed to 35,000 schools and colleges in England and Wales from 22 May 2001.

John Monks, general secretary of the TUC said: "The Teachers' National Stakeholder Pension Scheme will help many teachers save in a cost-effective way for a more comfortable retirement. It can be of particular benefit to people who started their teaching career later in life and who will not be able to build up an entitlement to a full occupational pension."

Barry Fawcett, secretary to the Teachers Superannuation Panel, said: 'We believe that the Teachers' National Stakeholder Pension Scheme will provide a very valuable addition to the options available to teachers to make cost effective improvements to their pension benefits.'