Luke's AVC story
Learn how taking out an additional voluntary contribution scheme is helping Luke to achieve his goal to retire and enjoy his pension early.
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Name: Luke
Age: 28
Occupation: Senior Policy Adviser for the Greater London Authority
I’ve been in the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) since 2015 when I first started work, and I’ve been with the London Pensions Fund Authority) (LPFA) since July 2020.
I started paying additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) in 2021. My goal is to retire and access my pension as early as possible, but I knew that my normal LGPS benefits would take a significant hit if I did. I thought that paying AVCs would be a good option for me as I have 30-plus years of work to allow my AVC pot to grow over time, and soften the blow when it came to retiring, as it would provide an additional pot of money.
Now that I’m set up with AVCs, I believe it works for me because it will provide an additional pot of money to access when I retire. This should, in theory, have grown significantly over the 30-plus years of my career.
Yes, it was definitely worth it, as it provides a tax-efficient way of saving more for retirement.
No
Look at the information available online on the LGPS member website, as well as online content from AVC Wise (if you are particularly interested in exploring AVCs).
