Georgina is 27 from Goole. She’s formally a beautician who retrained to become a Maths Teacher. We asked her to share her story.

What led you to changing careers from beauty to teaching?

“I’d always enjoyed mentoring other people and even did it back at school during my time at sixth form. I had good English and Maths grades so was happy supporting other students to get their GCSE grades.

The mentoring continued when I embarked on further education within the beauty industry after my A Levels. I helped other students achieve their functional skills in Maths and English as part of the NVQ qualification which led to me becoming an NVQ coordinator and assessor in the course.

I decided I wanted to explore mentoring more which is when I embarked on a Diploma in vocational teaching. I applied for Qualified Teacher Status in 2011 to specialise in English but I also wanted to get qualified to teach in Maths. This led me to do a PGCE in Maths in 2013 and opened the door to be a secondary school maths teacher.

Not only did I find teaching an attractive career change, the financial security and occupational benefits, particularly the Teacher’s Pension, were a key factor.

What do you find rewarding about teaching?

• Mainly being able to persuade young people to engage in Maths and explain something in a way that makes sense to them – watching them progress and grow into knowledgeable young adults
• Maths and English can become monotonous and boring – planning things outside the box and relating maths to ‘everyday’ life is inspiring to teach
• The incentives!

Is planning for your future important and how does Teachers’ Pensions help you in that?

I paid a lot of attention to the pension and benefits available before going into teaching full time. I signed up to Teachers’ Pensions as soon as I started as I felt there was no time like the present to start saving for my future and looking after my family.

I’ve just been off for a year on maternity leave so it’s good that I’ve been able to defer my payments whilst I’ve been off and pick things back up again. It was just a chat with my employer to restart which really suits my needs.

The biggest benefit in me joining the Teachers’ Pension Scheme was the amount paid in by my employer – it’s probably the best way to begin the foundation of saving for retirement in an affordable, steady way.

Before I started teaching I had a private pension and personal savings/investments. When I saw how much better and more importantly secure the Scheme was with teaching it gave me peace of mind that my family and I would be looked after.

I feel that I get all the information I need to make informed decisions on my pension and it’s good to know there are benefits which give extra security. Although retirement is a long way off for me you never know what’s around the corner.

How do you manage your pension?

Working in the maths field I think managing finances is important to assure financial security in the future. Teaching 16 to 18 year olds also means talking to them about the cost of living independently.

I think younger generations of teachers can help embed financial responsibility, for example certain areas that are not in the National Curriculum but can be explored building a deeper understanding of, for example APR. Along with the importance of managing their pension, saving for their future and budgeting. Life Skills are really important and looking after my pension makes me feel in a good place to talk to students about these matters.

As more and more people are managing their financial matters online, as well as everything else, it’s good to know that Teachers’ Pensions are encouraging people to manage their pensions digitally. Having control of the information at the touch of a button makes a difference. I don’t know every single thing about my benefits but I intend to spend more time online and learn even more about how my teacher’s pension can be made personal to my needs as I progress through my career.”