Understanding pensions

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a public sector pension scheme in the United Kingdom that provides retirement benefits to employees of local authorities, schools, and other participating organizations.

The LGPS is a 'Defined Benefit' (DB) scheme, meaning that members are guaranteed a specific level of pension income upon retirement, based on their length of service and salary history. The other most popular type of pension scheme in the UK is called a 'Defined Contribution' (DC) scheme, a DC pension scheme is a type of pension where the amount you receive in retirement is based on how much you contribute and how much that money grows, and is usually found in the private sector.

The LGPS is a complex scheme with various rules and regulations, but it offers valuable retirement security for many public sector workers.