The return is variable and is fully linked to the performance of the S&P500 Index over your chosen duration. Since inception in 1926, the S&P500 has generated an average return of just under 10% per year, just please note that this is an average – it does not go up in a straight line, and due to various stock market crashes and jumps over the nearly-100 years that it has been in existence, there have been some years when it has gone up as much as 30%+, and some years where it has gone down as much as 30%+.
Over any of the durations available (10/15/20 years), it is highly likely that there will be, at some unknown point in time, other stock market crashes and other stock market jumps. This means that it is highly likely that the value of your pension plan will, at different times, both rise and fall in value. Because this pension plan is designed to be paid into on a regular basis (monthly), you benefit from what is known as “Dollar Cost Averaging”, which means that over time, you are investing at different stock market levels, and are therefore investing at an average start price, rather than a single price which would be the case if you invested one large single amount all at the same time, which makes this inherently lower risk than investing all in one go.
There are many helpful articles on www.PensionsForNomads.com which go into this in more detail, so please explore them and let us help you build up your own financial skillset, along with the pension calculator “Crunch The Numbers” which is linked to on the main homepage. This will show you illustrated returns based on if the S&P500 Index averaged 10% per year and 7% per year for the duration of your pension plan based on how much you are paying in each month, and also the guaranteed minimum future value of your pension plan. You can reasonably expect to receive a much higher return than the minimum future value – it’s there to protect you just in case there’s a stock market crash right before the end of your chosen duration.