Offsetting is the process by which your right to receive a present or future pension benefit is traded for capital or money now.  For example, you might forego a pension in return for a larger share of the proceeds of sale of your house. However, you need to think carefully about any settlement along these lines because liquid assets and pensions are different in nature. The difficulty lies in comparing very different types of asset e.g. a pension as a future whole-of-life income stream, against cash, housing or other non-pension assets.  Offsetting of pensions needs to be calculated carefully; it is important that you know the value that you might be losing, retaining or acquiring.