Second State Pension ????

njb1978

Hi - my wife is in the process of hopefully being compensated after being advised to opt out of her NHS pension (she's a nurse) - We have now received a letter asking if she would like to opt back into the Second State Pension - I had assumed as the NHS pension is pretty good that this would be all she/we (with my NHS pension) would need but the paperwork received advises that in almost all cases people will be worse of by continuing to opt out - Any guidance appreciated - I have read a FSA fact sheet which also advises opting in but didn't - I feel fully explain the pros and cons - cheers for any help – neil

EdInvestor

Has she not now rejoined the NHS pension? If so, she would be contracted out into that, not into the other pension.

njb1978

Hi - yes she is back in the NHS pension and has been for a number of years (thankfully) - Am going to take any funds in the old pension she was wrongly advised to join and hopefully pay this into the NHS one or off the mortgage - But am unsure what to do about this Second State Pension?

From what I have read it is mainly for people relying on the state pension to pay extra into to top it up –

However, having the NHS one negates the need? I think? - Sorry if I’m not being clear - neil

P.S. Edinvestor - cheers for all your help with my other pension questions

EdInvestor

In that case the letter has probably been sent in error: but she should check with her pension department that her "contracted out rebates" are in fact going into the NHS pension since she rejoined, just in case there';s been some error.

After the redress money has been calculated and paid into the old pension, it would be sensible to ask for a quote from the NHS to see if she can buy herself back in by transferring the pension in on good terms.

Employees who pay NI contributions are entitled to 2 state pensions - the basic and the S2P (formerly SERPS) earnings-linked topup. But you can also contract out of the S2P, in which case the Govt will rebate your NI conts into the pension of your choice, whether company or private.

It used to be a good idea to do this as you could end up with a bigger and more flexible pension if you went private.But now it's not such a good deal and many people have opted back in.If you are in a scheme like the NHS you will automatically be contracted out into the company scheme.

njb1978

Yet again I'm in your debt - thank you for your (very swift) help - neil :beer: