Local authority pension due soon

jim2young

I finished in teaching about 10 years ago after 15 years slogging. I am currently self employed and doing ok.

My teachers pension is due to be paid in August. Is it best to wait and see what the government are going to do with the risk of losses, or should I jump and take it early with the known losses.:(

RichandJ

What losses are you talking about ?

It's a final salary scheme so your deferred pension based, strangely enough, on your final salary at leaving & your length of service will have been increased since you left based on RPI up to 2010 & CPI for 2011 onwards. It will increase in payment by, probably, CPI.

I fail to see what "losses" are involved here unless you are believing union propaganda.

StephenM_2

In any case, even if they were proposing to take away accrued pension rights, which they aren't, they wouldn't get the legislation through by August.

georgehere

Jim - sounds like you left teaching sometime ago ... so to some extent your benefits are already defined as you cannot do any more years, which would normally increase your entitelment, and also you cannot increase your 'final slalary' .. it is what it is (was).
You need to check with the pension provider what happens to the amount you get versus the date you start claiming - there might be an age where you get full entitlement but maybe before that age you will get reduced entitlement, nothing to do with new legislation, but if you claim from age 40 clearly you are going to cost your provider more than if you wait until you are 65. In your case, your rights to claim and the amounts are likely to get only now depend on your age when you claim.

Andy_L

StephenM wrote: »

In any case, even if they were proposing to take away accrued pension rights, which they aren't, they wouldn't get the legislation through by August.

Depends, if the scheme rules are worded such that the indexation over the 10 years deferred membership will now be CPI instead of RPI then it would make sense to take the pension before that became law (Unfortunatly I think it may be to late if that is the case)

RichandJ

Andy_L wrote: »

Depends, if the scheme rules are worded such that the indexation over the 10 years deferred membership will now be CPI instead of RPI then it would make sense to take the pension before that became law (Unfortunatly I think it may be to late if that is the case)

It would be too late for that because the Section 52a Order (S52a) for 2011 is already in force, however, it only uses CPI for the last year NOT over the whole period. The Rules will probably refer to section 3 of PSA 1994 which in effect is the annual updating order otherwise known as S52a.

Loughton_Monkey

You are basically misinformed about 'losses'.

Simply take the pension at whatever age you want to.