What are the Alternatives?

As an alternative to maybe joining the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), you could just depend on the State Pension, but this alone is unlikely to provide you with a sufficient enough income to support your retirement.

State retirement ages are ever-increasing as people are now living longer, therefore the younger you are the later your State Pension will probably be paid.

As an alternative to an occupational scheme, you could make your own arrangements and contribute to a personal pension plan or stakeholder pension, but this will not have the benefit of your Employer’s contribution and it’s most likely that you will have to pay an administration fee.  

Probably the most significant downside to contributing to a personal pension, is the investment risk, as the value of your fund upon retirement will be dependant on the performance of the open market at that time.