Final Salary Pension Query

katykitten

i left the nhs 10 years ago on a salary of around £23,000 (but was part time) ive heard that final salary pensions are to be withdrawn - does this mean i should take my nhs pension now (im 53 this year) or should i wait and see what happens
i now work part time in a school and run a small consultancy and have a private pension in place
any advice around this would be much appreciated

RichandJ

1. The Hutton report recommended that public sector pension schemes be changed from 'pure' final salary to career average. This is still a salary x service ÷ accrual rate arrangement and in any case will not affect the accrued deferred pension you already have. These are only recommendations at this stage and have yet to be formulated into policy by the Government.

2. You can't get at the pension until you're 55 anyway, unless you have a protected pension age (and as you say you left 10 years ago you probably won't) or are seriously or terminally ill.

3. The fact that you were part time means that your deferred pension will have been calculated on a pro rata service but full time equivalent salary basis. For e.g. if you worked 17½ hrs/week out of a full time standard of 35 for 10 years your pensionable service would be 5 years (10 x 17.5 ÷ 35). If the salary you were actually receiving was £23,000 then the full time equivalent would be double that. So, assuming an accrual rate of 80ths, and I don't know the actual NHS rate, the deferred pension for my example here would be 5 x 46,000 ÷ 80 = £2,875 pa at leaving. This is then increased between leaving and retirement by inflation (RPI to 2010, CPI thereafter).

Loughton_Monkey

Given that pension rights can only affect people going forward, why do you think you are going to be any worse off? Why don't you leave well alone, since nothing has changed for you.