Pension

The Pensions Trust is the leading provider of pensions to the charitable, educational and voluntary sector and all staff members are entitled to join scheme administered by The Pension Trust on behalf of the Association. Staff are under no obligation to join the scheme as it is voluntary.
The Money Purchase Scheme adopted by the Association produces a pension which is directly related to the money available in your fund when you retire. Whilst you are working, all the contributions paid by you and your employer are invested on your behalf and, with reinvested income, will accumulate according to the performance of those investments. The Pension Fund offers a choice of benefits and of investment:

Growth Plan
This invests in with-profits contracts guaranteed returns: bonuses awarded from time to time reflect the performance of the investments. The Growth Plan is a contracted-in scheme which means that staff remain in SERPS, unless they have already contracted-out by themselves. All contributions to the Plan are converted immediately into pension payable from retirement age, with a guaranteed build up of 5% per year. In addition bonuses are declared annually, and increase the potential pension further.

Unitised Ethical Plan
Contributions to this scheme will buy units in the Friends' Provident Stewardship Managed Fund which avoids certain sensitive areas of investment. The Plan is a contracted-in scheme which accumulates an invested pot which is used to purchase a pension when you retire. The eventual pension will depend not only on stock market levels when you retire but also depend on annuity rates at that time unless you secure your pension in the Growth Plan for the main part of your pension provision.

The minimum contribution to either scheme is 6% of your annual salary, tax free. Grampian Housing Association's contribution is 11%, tax free, on top of that. It is possible to build up extra benefits by paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). Staff can increase their contributions to a maximum of 15%. The Association's contribution will, however, remain at 11%.