NHS Pension, should i join?

ANY_CHANCE

I was thinking the same question regarding paying in to the pension or not.

What happens if I dont make it to retirement age of 65? (morbid thought i know but both my parents died in their 50s!)
What if I leave the NHS early?
How much could I expect to get when retired? I am 38 and just 3 months having paying into pension scheme

jem16

ANY_CHANCE wrote: »

I was thinking the same question regarding paying in to the pension or not.

What happens if I dont make it to retirement age of 65? (morbid thought i know but both my parents died in their 50s!)

There is Life Assurance and Family Benefits.
http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Pensions/2690.aspx

What if I leave the NHS early?

Then you become a deferred member as long as you have at least 2yrs service. Just leave your pension there till retirement age.
http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Pensions/2663.aspx

How much could I expect to get when retired? I am 38 and just 3 months having paying into pension scheme

Assuming retiral age of 65 then you would have 27yrs service so 27/60ths of your final salary. A career avergae scheme would see something similar.

ANY_CHANCE

Had to look up career average schemes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12698920

ANY_CHANCE

I work full time at the moment how much difference would it make if I changed to part time hours? eg 30 hours instead of 37.5

Thanks

atush

you would earn a quailifying year more slowly but you would still earn them.

Lindopski

As it stands the NHS pension scheme is pretty good but they are 'tweaking' it at the moment once again - they have only just had a massive overhaul in it - I joined in 2007 and in 2008 they changed all the rules and adjusted the pension to make it more affordable, 3 years later they started to harp on that the new one wasn't any good either so they want to play with it again, I think that is one of the reasons a fair few people are cheesed off.
I am in the 1995 section of the pension and the benefits are good, and the pension age is 60 - total win!
If the rules change my pension age will rise to 67 though as I am a child of June 1976 my pension age may actually rise to 68 as proposals have already mentioned this.

This means I will work 8 more years and leave with around the same amount or leave at my current pension age with a lot less.

I don't actually think I will retire at 60 to be honest, If I get settled down before then I will probably be working till 78 to support a family but its nice to know that at the moment I can leave work on a good pension whilst still relatively young - some of the older folks can go at 55 in the NHS atm lucky lot.

That 65 date however is bound to change so don't rely on that as your real pension age as you will be like me 68 or by the time we finish 78 even as no doubt by then the government will have found all new ways to screw us out of our old age money.

One thing you have to think about also is, if the NHS is the right place for your skills and will you get more money elsewhere.
We have just lost two infrastructure networking guys as the money they got from the NHS was about half what they could get from the private sector - and got it they did, we now have contractors holding the fort.

The pension no doubt will still be ok even when it has been destroyed by the coalition, but if you can double your wages elsewhere and just save a shed load of money instead then you might be better off in the private sector.
The extra bonus of the NHS is that public sector jobs are usually reasonably safe options but this is coming to an end and cuts are already in motion and large doubts on the horizon.
I love my little job but I am under no illusions that it will be here forever and I am already looking into some saving provision on top of the pension.
The pension may be bulletproof but the jobs aren't and the future is a bit murky so keep your options open.

as for joining the scheme I would certainly do it, but like I say - have backup too.

Koicarp

Lindopski wrote: »

This means I will work 8 more years and leave with around the same amount or leave at my current pension age with a lot less.

I think if you use the new calculator here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/agenda-calculator/ you will find that retiring at 67 will give you about 12% more than you will currently get on the 1995 scheme (at 60). If you want to match the payout you are currently forecast to get (at 60) you will have to work until 62 (and a bit). This is certainly the way it works for my wife (who was born in the same month as you) and I.

panny12

Can i pls join in and ask a question?
Having worked for the NHS for 20 years this year and am looking to retire when redundancy come round this year, i need to figure out what i will receive from my NHS pension, having used the online calculator i am not sure whether i have correctly processed it, is there an office i can write or email to find out for sure as work at the moment is very unfriendly due to the cuts? I do not want a lump sum but would prefer a monthly amount.
Thank you

Koicarp

Panny you need to contact NHSBA for a forecast, but their calculator for the 1995 scheme is here and will give you a ballpark figure: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Pensions/calculators.aspx

panny12

thank you i will.