Retirement Planning

Your UC retirement is more than just the pension. Download "The Four Pieces of Retirement" for a brief introduction to the many aspects of your retirement.

It is never too early to start planning for retirement. Planning financially for retirement is much easier for those who start when they are young. Compounding of earnings is so great that those who start saving for retirement in their 20s can accumulate large account balances with relatively small regular investments. For example, a 25-year-old who invests $2,000 a year for eight years and never invests an additional dollar can accumulate more by the age of 65 than a 35-year-old who invests $2,000 a year for 32 years, even though the 35-year-old invests four times as much.

Beyond the financial considerations involved in preparing for retirement, there are a myriad of factors to consider as retirement age nears. How will you spend your time? Will you relocate to a new community? Will you downsize to a smaller home? These and many other questions should be considered several years prior to retirement in order to ensure a successful retirement. UC provides several resources to assist with retirement planning.

Preparing for Retirement presentation

This presentation will help you understand your retirement benefits and the steps to retire from UC.

The presentations on this link provide an overview of UC retirement benefits, examples of retirement benefits calculations and information about steps to retire from UC. The full presentation lasts about 60 minutes, but sections can be viewed individually. Link to UCnet Preparing for Retirement Presentation. (link is external)

    Are you planning to retire within five years?

    • Explore online resources:
      • Preparing for Retirement webinar (overview of UC retirement income options, retiree health and the retirement process)
      • Health Insurance After You Retire webinars
      • Social Security
        • Visit the Social Security website or schedule an appointment at a regional office for more information
        • Visit myUCretirement website; Fidelity has a new webinar available titled "Making the Most of Social Security"
      • Financial planning for retirement—Visit UC's myUCretirement website for the most up-to-date courses and webinars.
    • Review the Retiree Center’s Steps to Retirement brochure
    • Consider attending the Retiree Center's four week "Transitioning to Retirement" workshop in Jan/Feb 2021. For 2021, this workshop will be held live via Zoom.
      • Dates: Fridays, January 13, 20, 27, and  February 3, 2023. 
        • Mark your calendars now, This is a big time commitment. You can decide later if you wish to follow through.
      • Staff meets from 9 a.m. – noon; Academics/faculty/physicians meet 1 – 4 p.m.
    Registration is now available. You must be registered to receive the Zoom link. To register, we suggest you first log into the LMS system, and then proceed to the course catalog (see links below) in order to register for each session you wish to attend. Each session requires individual registration.

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    Are you planning to retire in the next few months?

    Are you more than five years from retirement?

    For those who are further away from retirement, the UC Davis Retiree Center has prepared a brief overview handout entitled “The Four Pieces of UC Davis Retirement.” The four pieces are 1) the UCRP pension plan, 2) retirement savings accounts, 3) health/welfare plans and 4) additional services and discounts. The handout includes a chart that shows how the UC pension is calculated.

      Documents