A member may make extra contributions by waiving the ITHP (Increased-Take-Home-Pay), currently at 5%, tax deferred. This form is available from the Police Pension website or you can click here to access it.

The general rule is that contributions (other than union dues) withheld from an employee's wages or paid to the employer by a participant must be sent to the plan on the earliest date these contributions can reasonably be separated from the employer's general assets. This means that if you know how much should be sent to the plan three days after the pay date and it takes you another day to prepare the check, you must submit employee contributions four days after the pay date.

Yes - Active Members of the Scheme can pay up to 20% of their salary in Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). The ITB Pension Funds offer several different options for paying AVCs on a Money Purchase (or Defined Contribution) basis.

No. The employer sends his contribution as well as the employee's contribution directly to the Custodian.

You may not withdraw pension contributions if you are vested. However, if you are not vested and have Employee Contributions (including UV & HP plus any interest accrued) in the Pension Plan, you may withdraw these contributions plus interest if you leave the Industry for a minimum of three months or if you have a Break in Service. The withdrawal requires submission of a completed Withdrawal form to the Plan Office. Under certain circumstances you may withdraw UV & HP even if you are vested.

Your pension contributions are calculated as a percentage of your regular earnings and deducted directly from your pay. Your OPTrust pension is integrated with the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). This means that you pay lower contributions to OPTrust for the part of your earnings that is also covered by CPP. The lower contribution rate applies to earnings below Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE). For 2005 the YMPE is $41,100.

Yes. Your employer will keep track of your contributions and report them on your T4 slip as contributions to a registered pension plan. Your T4 will also show a "pension adjustment" amount. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) uses the pension adjustment to calculate the amount of RRSP contribution room you will have in the following year. The CRA will notify you of your RRSP room for the following year on your annual Notice of Assessment.

Your contributions are currently deducted from your pay after taxes. The City does not report the refund of your pension contributions as taxable income to you. If you contributed to the City Employees' Pension Fund for at least five years, you are eligible for interest on your contributions. Interest paid to you on a refund is generally taxable, but may be rolled over to a pre-tax investment vehicle. Please consult your tax advisor.

The increase you receive depends on the date on which your pension began. You may receive a lower percentage if your pension started on or after 25 April 2006. If you have reached State Pension Age, the increase to your pension is calculated differently due to the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) rules. Some of the increase on the GMP part of your pension may be paid by the Government with your State pension. Further information can be found in the TP Pensioner Newsletter.

No. Employee contribution rates are set by law. Since your retirement benefits are calculated according to a formula, increasing your contributions will not increase your retirement allowance. If you wish to increase your retirement savings, ask your department payroll clerk about enrolling in the deferred compensation plans offered by the County. The deferred compensation plan is not connected with ACERA in any way.

No. Retirement contributions rates are based on your age at entrance into the retirement system. However, if you wish to increase your retirement savings, contact Risk Management (County) or your Personnel department (districts) for information about enrolling in the deferred compensation plans they may offer. Please keep in mind that these alternative plans are not affiliated with StanCERA in any way.

As a member of the scheme, you are already making important provision for when you retire. However, you still need to consider whether your pension is likely to be enough or as much as you had envisaged and make any additional provision that may be necessary to achieve your pension expectations. There are a number of options available and you will find greater details elsewhere on this website. These are highlighted below. Transferring - transferring previous pension credit into the TPS.

No. The employee pension contribution is prescribed by the Pension Ordinance as a fixed percentage of your pay, and can only be changed for all participants by an Amendment to the Ordinance by City Council.

If you wish to commence paying AVCs or contributions to the stakeholder pension plan, you need to complete an application form, available from your Human Resources Department.

Yes. An additional 50% of contributions can be deducted from your pay. Please note that this deduction is not tax deferred. This form is available from the Police Pension website or you can click here to access it.

A pension is a way of saving money to ensure a comfortable retirement. In the UK it has major tax benefits which make it the best type of retirement plan for the vast majority of people, who, unless they're rich, really do need to save for old age. While there are alternative ways of saving the pension is generally the best option for most people. There are personal pensions, the new Stakeholder pension and occupational pensions. (See How does a personal pension work etc.).