The USS website

You can update your email details in My USS (My USS login required). This is important to enable USS to keep you updated about the scheme.  

If you have moved, use HR Self-Service to ensure your new address is updated on the HR System. This will then automatically be sent to USS with the next monthly data file. Please do not contact the University's Pensions team with your new address details.

For any other detail updates, complete and return the Notification of change in details form (My USS login required). To update a change of name, USS will need documentary evidence confirming the change, such as a certified copy of your Change of Name Deed.  

Opting out is when you choose to leave USS within the first three months of joining. Any contributions you have made will be refunded. To opt out you will need to complete a form which is available from USS

Withdrawing from the scheme is when you’ve paid into USS for more than three months, but wish to stop. If you have been paying in for less than two years you may be able to get a refund.  

Otherwise, the contributions you have paid in will be treated the same as if you had left USS – perhaps to work somewhere else.

Visit this page for more information about leaving the scheme  

Log in to My USS to use the calculators. These provide personalised projections and let you model a range of options.

Visit the USS Calculator and tools page 

This is the defined contribution section of USS and it works like a flexible savings pot. Your money is invested in funds and the final value of your savings will be based on how much has been paid in and how those investments have performed. These funds can be taken from when you reach 55 years of age without the need to retire. 

The Investment Builder works alongside the Retirement Income Builder, but they are quite different. The Retirement Income Builder gives you a guaranteed income for life and a one-off, cash lump sum based on your salary and years of service. You’ll also need to retire to access your Retirement Income Builder benefits, usually at the Normal Pension Age (which aligns with the State Pension age and is currently 66). 

The benefits that you earn in the Retirement Income Builder are based on your salary up to the salary threshold which is currently £70,296.00 If you earn over the salary threshold you’ll automatically start paying into the Investment Builder.  

You can start making additional contributions to the Investment Builder through My USS. You can choose to make a one-off payment, or monthly contributions as a percentage of your salary. 

Information from the USS site: 

• The Investment Builder  

• A short guide to the Investment Builder  

• What you can do with your savings in the Investment Builder 

It’s a difficult topic, but it is important to consider what will happen to your pension once you die.  

Find out more about what happens if you die whilst paying into USS, after leaving USS or after retirement. 

Make sure you let USS know who you would want to receive any lump sum that may be payable under life cover when you die. You can do this using the Expression of Wish form.

Log in to My USS to complete this online or download the Expression of Wish form to print, complete and return to USS.