Active member - An employee of Sopra Steria who joined/was auto-enrolled into the Scheme and continues to earn benefits.
Annual Allowance (AA) - The maximum amount that you can pay tax free into all your registered pension arrangements per year. Any amount you pay over this allowance may attract tax charges. The AA is currently £40,000.
Annuity - a way of converting your Pension Account into an annual income. This is usually set up through an insurance company.
Annuity provider - Usually an insurance company that provides an income in retirement in exchange for a payment.
Basic State Pension - This is a flat rate pension paid at State Pension Age to a single person who has paid enough National Insurance contributions during their working life.
Beneficiary Nomination form - A form used to let the GPP know who you would like to nominate for any lump sum benefits in the event of your death.
Deferred member - Someone who is no longer an active member, either because they have left the company or opted out of the scheme, but has not started taking their benefits.
Defined Contribution - a type of pension scheme based on a defined or set level of contributions to a pension fund. The level of a member’s pension is determined by the contributions paid into the fund, investment returns and how much it costs to buy a pension when the member retires.
Dependant - Someone who is partly or wholly dependent on you. This usually covers children under the age of 18, spouses and civil partners.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - Responsible for the registration of pension schemes and the taxation of contributions and benefits.
Lifetime Allowance (LTA) - The maximum amount of pension benefits that you can build up tax free over your lifetime across all pension schemes (excluding any State Pension) and is currently £1,030,000 rising to £1,055,000 for the 2019/20 tax year.
Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) - The reduced annual allowance that applies to members who use their retirement savings using some of the new retirement flexibilities.
Nomination form – a form used to let the GPP Provider know who you would like to nominate for any lump sum benefits in the event of your death.
Normal Retirement Date (NRD) - The date from which you can take your pension without reduction for early retirement.
Preserved benefits - Benefits built up in a scheme up to the date when someone stops being an active member (or the scheme closes) before their Normal Retirement Date. The member becomes a deferred member and will receive their preserved benefits when they retire.
Reference Salary - When an active member participates in Salary Exchange/Salary Sacrifice, the amount that the Company determines would have been their salary if they were not participating in Salary Exchange/Salary Sacrifice.
Retired member - A member of the Scheme who has started to receive their pension.
Salary Exchange/Salary Sacrifice - A member agrees to ‘give up’ some of your salary, and in return, Sopra Steria put money into your pension account. Because this is taken out first, the salary you are being paid is lower, therefore you pay less National Insurance.
Tapered Annual Allowance (TAA) - The reduced Annual Allowance that is applied to people with combined earnings of £150,000 or over. The TAA reduces from the standard AA of £40,000 to £10,000 depending on the earnings level.
Target Retirement Age - This is the age at which you plan to retire. It can be any age between 55 and 75.
Transfer Value - This is the cash amount the Scheme will pay if you leave the Scheme and transfer the value of your benefits to your new employer’s pension scheme, or personal pension arrangement. The new arrangement must be a recognised scheme under HMRC requirements.