can they change NHS pension overnight? from Final salary to Average salary?

Andy_L

bigjl wrote: »

Common practice in the Police, promote to Desk Sergeant (?spelling) for the last few years of somebodies career.

How many is a few? Since the police is a pyramid hierachy there are, by definition, less sergeant (sp looks right enough to me :-)) posts than people who could be promoted into them so I can't se it being that common

bigjl wrote: »

I pay over £400 a month into mine, though £200 of that is additional years, they are not free and mine is a 40/80 scheme if you manage the entire 40 years that is.

From memory I pay in 6.5% of pensionable pay,

Which is about 1/3 - 1/4 of the cost of funding that pension(ie an extra ~£600 a month in your case) - which is why they are open to criticism

You have chosen to buy extra years so the expense of them is an irrelevance. You appear to have forgotten about the 3x pension lump sum you get with the old 1/80ths schemes.

bigjl wrote: »

though some groups can retire at 55, Nurses for example, not sure if that applies to all Nurses, but they are listed as a special group.

I believe its nurses in particular specialities who were members "back in the distant past" who get to retire at 55

bigjl wrote: »

The only public sector workers, in my opinion, with a cushy pension are certain council workers, MP's and the Fire Brigade.

Why do you think that compared to any other public sector group?

newleaf

Andy_L wrote: »

I believe its nurses in particular specialities who were members "back in the distant past" who get to retire at 55

Yes, and there are not many of us left now. The special classes were abolished for new entrants to the scheme in the early 90's if I recall correctly, although the status was protected for existing members.