Post Office Pension Plan NewsletterMAY 2020 #01

This is your new pension newsletter from your Post Office Pension Plan Governance Committee. We are here to oversee your Post Office Pension Plan, the defined contribution pension plan with Scottish Widows.

We’re launching this newsletter to highlight important information to you regarding the plan, as well as useful tips, to help you find out more about your Scottish Widows pension plan and explain some of the latest developments. In this first issue, we introduce ourselves and our role, shed some light on what to expect in the year ahead, provide information to help you avoid being caught in a pension scam and additional pension tips – from pension transfers, completion of nomination forms to highlighting helpful contact details.

Post Office Pension Plan Governance CommitteeYou may not have heard of us before but we have a well-established pension governance committee here at Post Office that is designed to oversee your defined contribution pension arrangement with Scottish Widows.

Our governance committee meets regularly throughout the year to oversee a number of key performance measures, such as the identification of administrative issues, pension communications, investment performance, value for money and provider performance.

What is the purpose of the committee?

The Pensions Regulator is a public body that exists to protect workplace pensions and provide support to those employers running them. They recommend that every pension plan has a governance committee in place.

A pensions governance committee is not a legislative requirement, however, we firmly believe that it serves a purpose and benefits our pension members. In line with good governance practices, we have an agreed terms of reference with our Unions to govern the committee. Our aim is to ensure that your pension arrangement is run efficiently, is well governed, provides value for money and that member funds are invested right to help you on your journey towards a comfortable and desirable later-life.

Who forms part of the governance committee?

The group is made up of a variety of different representatives. This includes senior union representatives, senior management representatives, external advisors and our pension provider, Scottish Widows. This ensures all pension plan members have representation on the committee.

Page 2

Page 4

Page 6-8

Scottish WidowsFind out more about your Scottish Widows pension plan.

Pension ScamsAnyone can be the victim of a pension scam, no matter how savvy they might think they are. It’s important that everyone can spot the warning signs.

Additional Pension TipsIncluding completion of nomination forms, pension transfers and useful contact details.

HELLO & WELCOME

PENSION PLAN NEWSLETTER

32

If you want to amend your pension contribution, please let us know at POL.Pensions@postoffice.co.uk

Simply state the level of contribution you would like to change to and from when.

Why should I contribute more into my pension pot?

If you delay saving into a pension, you may need to contribute a higher

percentage of your pay in later years to achieve a more comfortable retirement. The more you contribute earlier, the longer your money has to grow.

Also, the more you contribute into your pension pot the more we will contribute, up to 11%, which means the total value of money in your own pension pot has the potential to grow larger and faster. As with all investments however, the value can go

both up and down. You also receive tax relief through your pension contribution. Scottish Widows have developed a ‘paying more’ calculator to allow you to see the effect of raising your pension contribution rates: www.scottishwidows.co.uk/retirement/calculators-tools/paying-more-calculator/ (Why not give it a go?) The figures are for illustrative purposes only.

Have you registered for a Scottish Widows pension account yet or logged into your account recently? Why don’t you give it go using the information on this page and you could be in with a chance of receiving a £25 One4all card. Email the Reward Team at RewardTeam@postoffice.co.uk before 30 June to let them know you've registered and logged in to be in with a chance of winning. One lucky winner will be chosen at random.

How do I log in and/or reset my password?

You can access your own personal Scottish Widows account at: https://money4life.scottishwidows.co.uk/employee/#/

When you first joined the Post Office Pension Plan with Scottish Widows, you will have been sent a letter welcoming you to Scottish Widows Money4Life. Your username can be found in this letter (it may be referred to as your log-in ID).

If you have misplaced this letter, you can request new login details by contacting Scottish Widows via the details found to the left.

How do I see how much money is in my pension pot?

At any time, you can view how much money is saved into your pension pot by accessing your own Scottish Widows account. You will also be able to view contributions, use tools and calculators to see how much you could save, choose where your money is invested, make one off transactions and see your own estimated total pension pot value at your selected retirement age.

In spring/summer each year, you will receive an annual benefit statement which details the current value of your pot, a history of transactions made, investment performance and for illustrative purposes your estimated pot value at your selected retirement age.

How do I change my pension contributions?

The table below displays the list of contribution options available to you. 5% and 9% are highlighted as they are the default contribution rates set by Post Office when an individual joins the pension plan.

Over the last few years, the Post Office Pension Plan has performed strongly, with members in the Post Office default fund reaping the benefits of investment growth.

The coronavirus has created uncertainty in the stock markets and as a result your pension may have fallen in value. Scottish Widows have set up a dedicated website with tailored coronavirus content which members can access here www.scottishwidows.co.uk/global/coronavirus/

Scottish Widows will keep this site updated to help guide you through how the markets are impacted and will cover some of the key questions you may have now and over the next few weeks and months.

Members should remember that their pension investment should be seen as a long-term investment, and that the default fund is invested in a lifestyle strategy. This means your money is automatically moved into less volatile funds as you approach your selected retirement age, which is defaulted to 65. This can be useful to help defend against unexpected falls in fund prices as you near retirement when there may be little time for prices to recover before you retire. You can find out more about how this works by looking at the Plan Guide on the Post Office Pension Plan info site atwww.scottishwidows.co.uk/save/postoffice/

Remember, you can obtain an up to date value of your pension from your own personal Scottish Widows account at https://money4life.scottishwidows.co.uk/employee/#

Your Scottish Widows Pension Plan

How do I contact Scottish Widows?

By Email: workplacesavings@scottishwidows.co.uk

By Phone: 0800 032 1260

By Post: Scottish Widows Workplace Savings, PO Box 28157, 15 Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, EH16 9DN

Where do I find out more about my Scottish Widows pension arrangement?

You can find out more information via Post Office’s own Scottish Widows site: www.scottishwidows.co.uk/save/postoffice/

Employee Contribution Post Office Contribution Total Contribution

7% + 11% (max) 18% +

7% 11% (max) 18%

6% 10% 16%

5% 9% 14%

4% 8% 12%

3% 7% 10%

UPCOMING EVENTS...Upcoming key events in the Post Office pension world: Auto Re-Enrolment: As part of the auto enrolment initiative rolled out by the UK Government in 2012, employers are required to ‘re-enrol’ eligible employees back into their workplace pension on a cyclical basis every three years. The Post Office reached this three-year mark in May 2020. Only 4% of our colleagues are not in the pension plan and we’ll be writing to these impacted employees to outline what this means for them. If you’re already part of the pension scheme, then don’t worry, you don’t need to anything and will not be impacted. We will only be writing to those affected individuals.

Annual Benefit Statements: Each year Scottish Widows will send members their annual benefit statement. This is a requirement for defined contribution pension schemes. Keep your eyes peeled for your statement to land in May 2020.

If you’d like to understand your annual benefit statement better, Scottish Widows has put together a video to support you. Simply use the QR scanner on your phone to view it.

Members contributing below the default rate: We are passionate about members maximising their pension benefits. Therefore, we have written to those members who currently contribute below our default contribution rates of 5% employee and 9% employer, to remind them of the options available to increase their contributions, and how they go about doing it. We appreciate that not everyone will be in a position to increase their contributions; however, we will carry out this activity annually to serve as a reminder to individuals of the options available to them.

Covid-19Update

MoneyAdviceService:www.moneyadviceservice.org• Free,impar-alfinancial/pensionadvice• Includesre-rementadvice,typesofpensionandre-rementincome,andinforma-ononautoma-cenrolment

Findanylostpensions:haps://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details• Thisservicecanhelpyoufindalostpension

PensionWise: www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en• ThegovernmenthascreatedaservicecalledPensionWisethatcanprovideguidanceondefinedcontribu-onpensions.Youcanbookan

appointmenttogetguidanceoverthephoneorfacetoface.You’lltalkaboutyourpensionop-onsandwhatyoucandonext.Attheendofyourappointmentyou’llgetaprintedsummaryoftheop-onsandnextstepsyouneedtotake.

• Ifyou’reover50thenyoucanphone08001383944tobookafreeappointment-haps://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en/appointmentsFinancialAdvice: TofindanIFAinyourlocalareavisit:www.unbiased.co.ukor www.vouchedfor.co.uk.

Pension Transfers (page 5)

You may be considering transferring a pension to your current plan with Scottish Widows. For many people, transferring pension benefits may be a goodidea, however it’s important to remember it’s not right for everyone.

Things to consider:

• Understand the difference between the pension scheme you’re transferring out of to your Scottish Widows plan

• Understand what you could be giving up:

• Do you have any ‘protections’ that you may lose through a transfer

• Does your pension have any fund guarantees

• Do you have any additional elements of cover, for e.g. live cover, critical illness insurance or waiver of premium.

• Understand the charges you currently pay to your pension provider and compare them with Scottish Widows

• Understand your: attitude to risk, retirement objectives, planned retirement age, investments

Scottish Widows offer members the option to transfer their pension electronically on their personal account.

Typically, if the scheme you’re thinking about transferring out of is a workplace defined benefit pension scheme and the value of your pension benefit ismore than £30,000 you’ll have to take professional advice from a regulated financial adviser before the transfer. However, Scottish Widows will notallow members to transfer out of a defined benefit scheme into their Scottish Widows plan. In most cases individuals are likely to be worse off if theytransfer out of a defined benefit scheme arrangement.

Scottish Widows have put together a ‘Pension Transfer Guide’ for its members. The guide can be found athttps://adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk/assets/literature/docs/719396sw.pdf. This guide describes the potential benefits of transferring existing benefits toyour current Scottish Widows plan and highlights some of the things to consider. The document is to be used a guide only and not to be viewed asadvice.

Annual benefits statement

If you’d like to understand your annual benefit statement better, Scottish Widows have put together a video to support you. Simply copy the image belowand use the QR scanner on your phone to view it. Launch the stock Camera app on your phone, point the camera to the QR code you want to scan andtake a photo of the QR code. You may have to open the saved image file from the Camera or Gallery app, bring up the menu, allow a second for yourphone to automatically recognize your photo and click ‘Scan QR code in image’.

54

DID YOU KNOW?

Be wary of the common pension scam signs:• Pension cold calls, free pension reviews, claims of

guaranteed high returns, exotic investments, time-limitedoffers and early access to cash before the age of 55 couldall tempt savers into risking their retirement income

• Phrases like ‘free pension review’, ‘pension liberation’, ‘loan’,‘loophole’, ‘savings advance’, ‘one-off investment’, ‘cashback’

• Higher returns – guarantees they can get better returnson pension savings

• Help to release cash from a pension before the age of 55,with no mention of the HMRC tax bill that can arise

• High pressure sales tactics – time-limited offers to get thebest deal; using couriers to send documents, who wait untilthey’re signed

• Unusual high risk investments, which tend to be overseas,unregulated, with no consumer protection

• Complicated investment structures

• Long-term pension investments – which often mean peoplewho transfer in do not realise something is wrong for anumber of years

Pensions Scams

Anyone can be the victim of a pension scam, no matter how savvy they might think they are. It’s important that everyone can spot the warning signs.

Scammers often cold call people via phone, email or text – this is now illegal, and the likely sign of a scam. They often advertise online and can have websites that look official or government-backed. Scams will often look and sound professional and elaborate. Always be aware.

reported to Action Fraud that they had lost more than £23m to pension scammers in 2017.

253VICTIMS

A TOTAL OF

We advise you take time to read through The Pension Regulator’s advice to avoid scams at:

www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/pension-scams

The FCA outlines four simple steps to protect yourself from pension scams:

Reject unexpected pension offers whether made online, on social media or over the phone.

Check who you’re dealing with before changing your pension arrangements – check the FCA Register or call the FCA contact centre on 0800 111 6768 to see if the firm you are dealing with is authorised by the FCA.

Don’t be rushed or pressured into making any decision about your pension.

Consider getting impartial information and advice.

If you think you’ve been scammed or been contacted by scammers, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 to report it.

Remember – be vigilant, check who you’re dealing with and if you’re not sure, seek impartial advice before committing to anything.

1

2

3

4

5

Can I rely on the State Pension alone? The State Pension is a regular payment from the government that you can claim when you reach State Pension age. The way it works changed from April 2016. To qualify for any State Pension you’ll need to have at least 10 years’ worth of National Insurance contributions. To receive the maximum amount available, which as of May 2020, is currently £175.20 a week, that's just over £9,110.40 a year, you'll need 35 years worth of National Insurance contributions. Some individuals may receive more than this if they’d been entitled to a higher income under the old rules.

To check if you’re on target to obtain this full amount you can see a forecast of your State Pension at www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

STATE PENSION

DID YOU KNOW?The new State Pension is currently

In order to receive the full state pension amount (£175.20 per week), you’ll need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions. However, you can top up gaps in your National Insurance contributions which might enable you to receive a better state pension. Find out more at www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

£175.20 PER WEEKwhich gives you an annual amount of £9,110.40

TEST YOURSELFFind out how ScamSmart you are by taking the Financial Conduct Authority’s quiz www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/pensions-scam-quiz to help you spot a pension scam.

76

It's important to keep Scottish Widows up to date with who you want to leave your pension to, otherwise known as your beneficiary.

Personal circumstances can change frequently, and it is important that nominations are kept up to date to fully reflect your latest wishes. We recommend that everyone completes a Nomination of Beneficiary form and reviews this form on an annual basis or when a significant life event occurs.

Updating your Nomination of Beneficiary preferences is simple, and you can make changes as often as you like. The good news is that you can now complete your Nomination of Beneficiary form online via your Scottish Widows account. It’s quick and easy and ensures that Scottish Widows knows who you want your pension benefits paid to in the event of your passing.

Completing your Nomination of Beneficiary form

You will need to complete a separate nomination of beneficiary form for our Post Office Life Assurance plan. You can find your life assurance form on the Life Assurance section on our intranet.

6

Pension TransfersWe recognise that you may have other pension pots elsewhere and may have considered transferring them to your Post Office Pension Plan with Scottish Widows. For many people transferring pension benefits may be a good idea, but it’s important to remember that it’s not right for everybody.

Scottish Widows have put together a ‘Pension Transfer Guide’ for its members.

This guide (amongst other really useful pension information) can be found in your ‘Key Documents’ Library on the Post Office pension site with Scottish Widows at: www.scottishwidows.co.uk/save/postoffice/

This guide describes the potential benefits of transferring existing benefits to your current Scottish Widows plan, and highlights some of the things to consider. The document is to be used as a guide only and not to be viewed as advice.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

• It's important to understand the differencebetween the pension scheme you’retransferring out of to your ScottishWidows plan

• Understand what you could be giving up:

- Do you have any ‘protections’ that youmay lose through a transfer?

- Does your pension have anyfund guarantees?

- Do you have any additional elementsof cover, for e.g. life cover, criticalillness insurance or waiver of premium?

- Do you understand the chargesyou currently pay to your pensionprovider and compare them withScottish Widows?

- Do you understand your: attitude torisk, retirement objectives, plannedretirement age, investments?

DID YOU KNOW?On commencement of employment you are entitled to Life Assurance benefit which is expressed as a multiple of your basic salary.

If you are not a member of the Post Office Pension Plan you will receive a multiple of 2x of your basic salary. However, if you are a member of our Plan, you will receive a multiple 4x basic salary. In addition, if you’re in the pension plan and have financial dependants, you will receive an enhanced 2x benefit, bringing the multiple to 6x.

Typically, if the scheme you’re thinking about transferring out of is a workplace defined benefit pension scheme and the value of your pension benefit is more than £30,000, you’ll have to take professional advice from a regulated financial adviser before the transfer.

8

Other useful sources

Check your State Pension: www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

• How much State Pension you could get (this amountis also known as your State Pension forecast)

• Have you paid enough NICs to get full State Pension• When you can get it• How to increase it, if you can

Money Advice Service: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en

• Free, impartial financial/pension advice• Includes retirement advice, types of pension

and retirement income, and information onautomatic enrolment

Find any lost pensions: www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details

This service can help you find a lost pension.

Pension Wise: www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en

• The government has created a service calledPension Wise that can provide guidance on defined contribution pensions. You can book an appointment to get guidance over the phone or face-to-face. You’ll talk about your pension options and what you can do next. At the end of your appointment you’ll get a printed summary of the options and next steps you need to take

• If you’re over 50 then you can phone 0800 138 3944 to book a free appointment:https://www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en/appointments

Financial Advice: To find an IFA in your local area, visit: www.unbiased.co.uk or www.vouchedfor.co.uk

It pays to keep up to date with your pension. Here’s some helpful contact details and sources of advice so you can find out more about your pension at any time.

HR Service CentreContact the HR Service Centre in Bolton:Phone: 0333 345 5569

For any pension queries, such as amending your pension contributions, contact: POL.pensions@postoffice.co.uk

Royal MailIf you’re a member of the closed defined benefit pension plan, you should find the below information useful. If you are a member of the RMPP, there was a separate RMPP newsletter released in April 2020. The Pension Service Centre is responsible for the day-to-day activities and administration of the RMPP scheme. For all enquiries about the benefits you have built up in the RMPP (those benefits from April 2012) contact:

By Email: pensions.helpline@royalmail.comBy Phone: 0114 241 4545By Post: Pension Service Centre, PO Box 5863, Pond Street, Sheffield, S98 6ABWebsite: www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk

Since October 2018, Capita have been responsible for the day-to-day activities and administration of the RMSPS scheme. For all enquiries about the benefits you have built up in the RMSPS (those benefits built up before April 2012) contact:

By Email: enquiries@rmsps.co.ukBy Phone: 0333 222 0078By Post: Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme, 11b Lingfield Point, Darlington, DL1 1AXWebsite: www.royalmailsps.co.uk

USEFUL CONTACTS

ANY FEEDBACK?We’d love to hear whether you enjoyed this newsletter and if you’d like to see more. If there’s a particular topic you’d like to see included in future communications please let us know at RewardTeam@postoffice.co.uk