Civil Service Pension - no more lump sum, what to do?

princeperch

I still havent been given a proper statement of the pension I've build up in my 3 years in the CS thus far - the last one I got had the wrong salary and starting date on it.

anyway am I right in thinking that if I stay on my current grade/salaryfor the next 27 years (thus having 30 years service) it should go something like this:

47000 x 30 / 80?

I think I'm on the neuvos (sp?) scheme?

Goldenyears

princeperch wrote: »

I still havent been given a proper statement of the pension I've build up in my 3 years in the CS thus far - the last one I got had the wrong salary and starting date on it.

anyway am I right in thinking that if I stay on my current grade/salaryfor the next 27 years (thus having 30 years service) it should go something like this:

47000 x 30 / 80?

I think I'm on the neuvos (sp?) scheme?

The 1/80 ths calculation you refer to is the old Classic scheme. Nuvos is a career average scheme where (at present) you are accumulatiing 2.3% of salary per year. If you stay at the same grade for 32 years (unusually young Principal I assume) your pension would be capped at 75% of earnings!! This is so generous that it can't be sustained and of course it won't be. There are new arrangements coming, which is perhaps why you are not getting annual statements, although you should have some explanation I would have thought.

Sorry to be blunt but you should have all the Nuvos benefits in your induction pack.

Edit: On second thoughts, CPI Indexation of past years contributions may make the 75% pension an unlikely target (management hopes!).

princeperch

Goldenyears wrote: »

The 1/80 ths calculation you refer to is the old Classic scheme. Nuvos is a career average scheme where (at present) you are accumulatiing 2.3% of salary per year. If you stay at the same grade for 32 years (unusually young Principal I assume) your pension would be capped at 75% of earnings!! This is so generous that it can't be sustained and of course it won't be. There are new arrangements coming, which is perhaps why you are not getting annual statements, although you should have some explanation I would have thought.

Sorry to be blunt but you should have all the Nuvos benefits in your induction pack.

Edit: On second thoughts, CPI Indexation of past years contributions may make the 75% pension an unlikely target (management hopes!).

thanks - afaik I didnt receive any bumph when I joined the scheme but will have to check. I'm a G7 and was made one when 25 and am not really interested in promotion above this so yes I guess it is quite unusual.

What annoys me is that they cant even be bothered to send me a pension statement which is accurate...

princeperch

has anyone had experience over the past years of buying added pension? I'm playing with the numbers and cant work out if its worth it or not - particularly given the increase we will have to pay from april 13 onwards.

I intend to invest in property as the main pension but given the tax relief putting a little bit extra into the pension is tempting. That said it seems they cant even get an accurate pension statement sent out within a year so that doesnt fill me with confidence...

Prof_Ligate

Hi

I have read through all this and am still a little confused about my Civil Service Pension. I left back in 2005 and (I think) was moved onto the premium scheme a couple of years previous.

My last statement from Capita showed my preserved annual pension at about £5000 and my lump sum at about £15,000.

If had stayed in the classic would I have got both of those at 60 but because I moved to premium I will only get the annual pension and not the lump sum as it says (for those who left after 30/9/2002) that "members of the premium scheme are not entitled to an additional lump sum. The tax free lump sum is optional and a member must elect to give up pension in exchange for cash". However, the front of the statement says that on leaving "I became entitled to a preserved pension AND lump sum".

In terms of figures, what does that mean?

Thanks in advance for any clarification.

Prof_Ligate

Prof_Ligate wrote: »

Hi

I have read through all this and am still a little confused about my Civil Service Pension. I left back in 2005 and (I think) was moved onto the premium scheme a couple of years previous.

My last statement from Capita showed my preserved annual pension at about £5000 and my lump sum at about £15,000.

If had stayed in the classic would I have got both of those at 60 but because I moved to premium I will only get the annual pension and not the lump sum as it says (for those who left after 30/9/2002) that "members of the premium scheme are not entitled to an additional lump sum. The tax free lump sum is optional and a member must elect to give up pension in exchange for cash". However, the front of the statement says that on leaving "I became entitled to a preserved pension AND lump sum".

In terms of figures, what does that mean?

Thanks in advance for any clarification.

Maybe I should ask my question in a more understandable manner ...do premium members who left after Sept 2002 get both the lump sum and the annual pension that is listed on the statements? If so, what does the 'not enitled to an additonal lump sum' bit mean?

alastairq

Hi Peeps..... having quickly scanned through this stickie.....and being a [un?]civil servant, I'd like to make some observations...certainly regarding the two distinct types of CS pension [Classic, and NUvos {??}]

Further back down the thread, I noted comments concerning how long folk remain as Civil Servants.....no doubt despite best intentions?

I recall the time when the pension changes were imposed on us....and the choices we had to make.

Whilst I currently have approaching 16 years of service....and expect to add at least another four or ten......depending on health....[I am over 61, to be fair]....at the time of the change-over, I was at a stage where I had some real choices to make.

For me, it was 'either', 'or', or both.

The sums confuzzled me exceedingly [not being a 'desk-jockey.....I collect my emails about once every 6 weeks, and get told off for clogging up the servers with unopened bumph!].....the Union were helpful to a degree [PCS...bless 'em]....but, in the end, one particular aspect totally swayed my decision...regardless!

The 'conditions' for taking pension on medical grounds.

Fine.. the Classic had but one option...if one could no longer do one's job, for a medical reason, one could retire on medical grounds...and receive a pension....and this was a single stated amount [dependant on personal criteria, of course].


For the N[uvos]ew pension, there were two options...and these were dependant on ..really, what was wrong with you.

The first option paid significantly more than the medical pension under Classic rules.

The second, considerably less than the Classic .

To a younger person in their twenty's or thirties, the Nuvos scheme looked heaps better.

Until the criteria were read..in very very small print indeed.


As I mentioned earlier, for the Classic scheme, the criteria for retirement on medial grounds were, one could no longer do one's job.

for the new scheme...one could claim the first, higher medical pension, only if one could actually no longer do any sort of work at all.

The lower medical pension was paid .....if they could demonstrate you were capable of doing some sort of work...regardless of what it entailed.

this means [AFAIK] that for medical retirement one is subjected to the closest of scrutiny.

I suspect very very few folk who take medical retirement from the CS are incapable of doing some sort of work...whether it involves sitting at a computer, or sweeping a park.


On the classic scheme....it didn't matter what one was capable of...if one simply couldn't do the CS job one was employed to do, for medical reasons....then one could retire on medical grounds.....with a pension that fell neatly half-way between the two amounts under Nuvos!

A very neat, back-door way of cost savings?

And something younger people may not appreciate?

Not that they have a choice now, of course.......

Goldenyears

Prof_Ligate wrote: »

Maybe I should ask my question in a more understandable manner ...do premium members who left after Sept 2002 get both the lump sum and the annual pension that is listed on the statements? If so, what does the 'not enitled to an additonal lump sum' bit mean?

Sorry for late reply. I rarely look in here. You are entitled to benefits previously built up in Classic, including automatic lump sum (that is if you did not convert previous years of service to Premium using factor of x0.92). After opting for Premium and the 1/60 accrual rate there is no automatic lump sum element for subsequent years. The lost benefit of the lump sum is supposed to be included in the increased accrual rate. Hence the statement you are not entitled to additional lump sum