Glossary
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An actuary is an expert on pension scheme assets and liabilities, life expectancy and probabilities (the likelihood of things happening) for insurance purposes. An actuary works out whether enough money is being paid into a pension scheme to pay the pensions when they are due.
Added Years
The extra years and days you will receive in the scheme in exchange for bringing in a transfer value from a previous employer's scheme or a personal pension/stakeholder arrangement
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
Contributions you choose to pay on top of your ordinary contributions. These will be paid into the DMGT AVC Plan.
Assets
These are everything that the trustees hold for the scheme. They can include investments, bank balances, and money owed to the scheme.
This is a pension paid by the Government to people who have enough qualifying
years. It is not earnings related.
A qualifying year is one in which national insurance has been paid every
week. If some weeks have been missed, sometimes a single amount can be paid
to make up those weeks.
Bond
A bond is a loan made to a company (known as a corporate bond) or a government (known as a gilt). In return for lending them the money, the organisation pays out an agreed amount which represents the interest payable on the loan. When the bond matures the loan will be repaid at its original face value.
Refers to a pension scheme which provides a pension equivalent to SERPS and therefore qualifies to pay reduced rate of National Insurance Contributions.
This is someone you are not married to but depends on you financially and may benefit from the death benefits available with the scheme.
The group of Companies that are owned by Daily Mail & General Trust plc.
Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP)
The minimum pension that the scheme must legally provide by being contracted-out of SERPS. Changes in pensions law mean that GMPs are not earned after April 1997. Instead, the scheme will need to satisfy new minimum benefit and funding requirements.
These are amounts that the scheme will have to pay now or at some time
in the future. The most common liability is paying pensions.
An order made by the Court as part of a financial settlement on divorce in accordance with the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999.
Pensionable Earnings Reduction
This is £5,000 increased, from 1 April 2004, in line with annual
inflation.
It might be helpful to explain a little more about the Pensionable Earnings
Reduction.
The pension scheme is what is known as an "integrated scheme". This means the state pension element is integrated with the pension you will get.
Your salary as far as pension calculation is concerned is called the "Scheme Salary" and is calculated on your final salary less an amount deducted to allow for the Basic State Pension. This deduction is called the Pensionable Earnings Reduction.
It is also worth noting that because the scheme is contracted-out of the state second pension (S2P) formerly the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS), you and the Company pay a lower rate of National Insurance contributions.
The average of your Scheme Salary over the last 12 months before retirement, death or leaving service.
The length (in years and days) of your membership of the scheme, excluding any periods when you were not contributing (apart from Statutory Maternity Leave commencing after 16th October 1994). For benefit purposes, this is subject to a maximum of 40 years. Any periods of membership of the Group's pension schemes before 1st April 1989 may have been converted into a different period of Pensionable Service.
The period of service when you actually contributed to the scheme. This will include Pensionable Service from a previous pension scheme for which a transfer payment has been received by the scheme.
References to the scheme applies to the Mail Newspapers Pension Scheme and the Harmsworth Pension Scheme, both of these schemes have identical benefits but apply to different employing companies with the Group.
The amount of your Total Salary less the Pensionable Earnings Reduction. For part-time employees, only the appropriate proportion of the Pensionable Earnings Reduction is taken into account.
Your Scheme Salary is calculated annually. If your recalculated Scheme Salary is less than the Scheme Salary for the previous year, the higher figure will continue to apply unless you elect otherwise.
Employees who joined the Scheme after 31st May 1989 are subject to a restriction on the earnings which can count for benefits.
SERPS (now S2P)
State Earnings Related Pension Scheme. SERPS provides an earnings related State pension to top up the Basic State Pension. It has been replaced by the State Second Pension, S2P.
State Pension Age (SPA)
This is currently 65 for men, and for women born before 6th April 1950
it is, and will remain, 60. However, there will be a transitional period
of 10 years from 6th April 2010, during which time SPA for women will be
progressively raised from 60 to 65.
Total
Salary
Your annual rate of basic salary or wages on 1st April plus any additional earnings you may have received in the previous 12 months which your employer has determined is pensionable.