SAUL Lifetime is available for staff in the professional, technical, operational, and learning job families, grade 3b and below, who joined before 1 April 2023. SAUL Lifetime members build their pension based on their Career Average Revalued Earnings. This means members receive a pension payable for their lifetime, which is based on their salary and the length of time they are a member of the scheme.
Salary includes any permanent allowances (like London weighting or responsibility allowance) and overtime. It does not include bonuses or commissions.
Further Information
- Eligibility
- What you will get
- Contributions/how much it costs
- How your SAUL Care builds up
- Opting Out
SAUL Lifetime is for staff in Professional, Technical, Operational, and Learning grades, Level 3b and below, and Assistant Teaching Fellow and Teaching Fellow grades who joined before 1 April 2023.
Imperial automatically enters all eligible staff into a pension scheme, as required by law.
Being a SAUL Lifetime member means you'll get:
- a pension and a tax-free lump sum when you retire
- a pension and a tax-free lump sum if you're too ill to work.
Your beneficiaries will get:
- tax-free lump sums if you die
- a pension if you die
- child allowances if you die, payable until your child's 18th birthday or their 23rd birthday if they're still in full-time education.
Your SAUL Lifetime pension increases each year.
Your SAUL pension is flexible, so you can choose the pension and lump sum that suits you when you retire.
You can learn more about retirement options in the Getting your pension section.
You can find out how your pension is calculated on this page: how do you work out my pension?.
You pay 6% of your salary into SAUL Lifetime.
The money you pay in is taken from your annual salary, any permanent allowances (for example, London weighting or responsibility allowance), and overtime. Bonuses and commissions are not included.
Imperial pays towards your pension too. They pay 19% of your salary into your pension each month.
Access SAUL's take-home calculator to see the difference paying into SAUL will make to your monthly income.
SAUL members who joined up to 31 March 2023 build a pension based on their Earnings. This means members get a pension based on the Salary they earn every year.
Salary includes any permanent allowances (like London weighting or responsibility allowance) and overtime. It does not include bonuses or commissions.
The year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and members get a pension of 1/75th of their salary for each complete (or part) year they pay into SAUL.
This pension increases each year, and in this way, you build up an income to be used when you reach retirement age.
For members who joined Imperial before 1 April 2023 or have been re-enrolled into the Lifetime side of the scheme. If you are currently in the job family, grade 3b and below, and are contributing to the SAUL Lifetime Pension scheme, and wish to opt out, please complete the opt-out form and return it to pensions@imperial.ac.uk
NOTE: You cannot opt out of a pension scheme before your start date, or, if you are a casual worker, until you have been auto-enrolled into a pension scheme.