Cash Balance Section

The Cash Balance Section is a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme like the other two sections, but it works rather differently.

If you joined the Cash Balance Section, your contributions and Sainsbury’s contributions were paid into a common pool of money. However, rather than build up an amount of pension based on your salary and years of membership (like the other two sections), you have instead built up an amount of money called a personal account. Your personal account received an increase each year in line with inflation (and you continued to get this increase even after you stopped paying in).

At retirement, the value of your personal account is exchanged for an annual pension that increases in line with inflation each year. Your spouse or partner will also receive a pension if you die before them.

You can exchange up to 25% of your Cash Balance personal account for tax-free cash, but this will reduce the size of your pension.

Depending on when you were an active member, you may also have a Final Salary or Career Average pension from the Sainsbury’s Scheme as well as your Cash Balance pension. You must take your benefits from all the sections of the Sainsbury’s Scheme at the same time.

You can transfer some or all of your Cash Balance personal account out of the Scheme if you want to take it more flexibly or would prefer your pension in a different format to the one offered by the Scheme.

Log in to My Pension to see how much your Cash Balance pension account would be worth as a transfer.

How to get in touch with LV= 

Call: 0800 022 3844
The initial chat is free and without obligation.
Open 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.
For TextPhone dial 18001 first. LV= may record and/or monitor calls for training and audit purposes. 

Email: [email protected]

Using your own adviser?

When choosing your own adviser, make sure they are authorised to give specialist pension advice by calling the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768. If you don’t use an FCA-authorised firm, you risk not having access to compensation schemes.

The Trustee has appointed LV= to provide an expert retirement guidance and advice service. If you’re a Cash Balance Section member, the Trustee will pay for the cost of advice from LV=.