All that way for this?

Breakthrough - of a sort UCU have this evening (13th March) posted the deal negotiated with UUK at ACAS . The proposal on the future of USS to be put to the union tomorrow is that defined benefits are retained for salaries up to a lower cap of £42,000 , but at a reduced accrual rate of 1/85ths . In return, members will pay an additional 0.7% and employers 1.3% . The 1% "match" will be withdrawn . I'll show what this means in terms of annual pension contribution value later, but first there is an even more bitter pill hidden in this deal. Indexation broken A key part of any defined benefit pension scheme is that the benefits should be indexed so that they keep up with the cost of living, otherwise inflation will erode their value and leave them worthless. You could actually be better with a defined contribution scheme (of the right value) than a defined benefit scheme that is almost certain to lose value. The ACAS agreement includes the line " Indexation and rev