Pension Plain is an educational publisher. This page sets out the standards we hold every article on the site to, so you can judge our work by the same criteria we judge it by.
What we publish
Pension Plain publishes plain-English explainers about UK public sector pension schemes (NHS, Teachers, Civil Service, Armed Forces, Police, Firefighters, LGPS) and the McCloud remedy that affects all of them. Articles are educational reference: they explain how rules work, with current rates, examples, and named sources. They do not tell readers what to do.
What we do not publish
- Personalised financial advice. The Financial Conduct Authority regulates financial advice in the UK. Pension Plain is not authorised. We do not tell readers what decision to make about their pension. For regulated advice, speak to an FCA-authorised adviser or, for free, MoneyHelper.
- Party-political content. Pension Plain is apolitical. We cover enacted legislation factually. We do not frame articles around a single political party’s policy proposals. We do not editorialise on which party’s pension policy is preferable.
- Unedited AI output. We use AI tools to research and draft, but every published article is reviewed and edited by James Heppe-Smith before it goes live. Articles are not auto-published from a model.
- Sponsored placements or paid links presented as editorial. If we ever accept commercial relationships that affect content, they will be disclosed at the top of the affected article.
Our editorial principles
- Plain English. No jargon without an explanation. No technical terms where ordinary words will do.
- Primary sources. Every factual claim links to a primary source where one exists: scheme rules, government guidance, regulator statements, official scheme administrator documents. We do not cite secondary summaries when the primary document is available.
- Show the working. Where there is calculation, we show the maths. Where there is interpretation, we say so explicitly.
- Date-stamped facts. Every article carries a “Fact-checked” date in the byline. We re-check articles when rules change and update the date.
- Update or retire. When a rule changes substantively, the affected article is updated and the date is reset. When an article is so out of date that updating it would mislead, it is retired or fully rewritten.
- Errors corrected promptly. Reader-flagged errors are reviewed within five working days. Substantive corrections are noted at the foot of the affected article with the date of correction.
- Visible authorship. Every article carries a byline. The author’s name, photo, and editorial role are public on this site.
Who writes Pension Plain
Pension Plain is written and edited by James Heppe-Smith. James is the founder of The Savvy Investor’s Guide, a UK personal-finance education site, and of Heppe-Smith Publishing. He is not an FCA-regulated financial adviser. What he brings to the site is a researcher’s habit of going to source documents, a preference for plain language over insider jargon, and a willingness to ask awkward questions of pension trustees and scheme administrators when the published guidance is unclear.
How to flag an error
If you spot a factual error in any Pension Plain article, please tell us via the contact page. We review correction requests within five working days. Substantive corrections are noted at the foot of the affected article.
Corporate information
Pension Plain is published by VitaVerse LLC, a Wyoming-registered holding company, at 30 N Gould St, Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA. Pension Plain is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide regulated financial advice.