Police pension can i cash it in

jamesd

bztvnq wrote: »

I was happy to 'give up' my youth in the knowledge that when I retired at 49 my friends would all be working till the age of 60 and beyond.

It's understandable to be unhappy but it's also worth thinking about the reason for the change: longer life expectancy as a result in part of the investments many governments have made in improving healthcare. That's a boon to you and the rest of us but the cost is both in that healthcare and in having to pay out pensions for longer. Has to be paid for somehow. In the private sector these days the whole cost is handled by the employee, via defined contribution pensions. You're aggrieved with reason but still way better off than that.

You do still have the same options as those in the private sector, though. You can retire whenever you like if you put away enough money to sustain you from when you retire to when the state pension and your work pension start.

In the private sector I'm aiming to retire at 55. That's been costing me more than 60% of the total of my net pay plus gross pension contributions for the last eight or so years and will do for another five or more years to come, longer if I can't get to my target income in time.

It costs all of us money in pensions somehow but it's hard to be unhappy at the longer lives in retirement that are the cause of the financial difficulties.

If you do want to retire earlier you might want to start a topic for that and we can work with you on some planning to see what it would take to achieve it. Same for anyone else who's interested.

haras_nosirrah

just to give you an idea what some peoples pensions and work conditions are like

I work in a heavily commission based job - expected annual income of 40k of which 20k is basic and the rest commission

I contribute 10% of my salary and the company puts in 3%

the employer contributions are only on basic pay not on commission as well.

You can only join the scheme once you are a senior member of staff (level 2 out of 5 or above) It took me 5 years to qualify for this pension. The other 5 years I was contributing but had 0 contributions from employer.

we get 20 days holiday a year and I am contracted for 33 hours a week as a part time member of staff (normal is 50 hours)

they have announced our 2014 paydeal yesterday and they have increased our commission by 2% but have got rid of all our bonuses - this means that I am losing 7k of bonuses but will get £400 extra commission to compensate - so effectively next year will have a 17% pay cut if I do the same as I have done this year.

why don't I leave - because I am the main bread winner as well as being mum to a 1 year old and I get a certain amount of flexibility with working from home. I came back to work when my son was 6 weeks old as I couldn't afford to be off as we only got statutory maternity of 6 weeks at 90% then £124 a week or whatever it was.

anyone complaining about their pensions and jobs want to swap?

atush

hyubh wrote: »

No - the deferred pension age is 60.

Oh well, it was a thought. I'd still stay in it though.

deepseadiver

haras_nosirrah wrote: »

just to give you an idea what some peoples pensions and work conditions are like

I work in a heavily commission based job - expected annual income of 40k of which 20k is basic and the rest commission

I contribute 10% of my salary and the company puts in 3%

the employer contributions are only on basic pay not on commission as well.

You can only join the scheme once you are a senior member of staff (level 2 out of 5 or above) It took me 5 years to qualify for this pension. The other 5 years I was contributing but had 0 contributions from employer.

we get 20 days holiday a year and I am contracted for 33 hours a week as a part time member of staff (normal is 50 hours)

they have announced our 2014 paydeal yesterday and they have increased our commission by 2% but have got rid of all our bonuses - this means that I am losing 7k of bonuses but will get £400 extra commission to compensate - so effectively next year will have a 17% pay cut if I do the same as I have done this year.

why don't I leave - because I am the main bread winner as well as being mum to a 1 year old and I get a certain amount of flexibility with working from home. I came back to work when my son was 6 weeks old as I couldn't afford to be off as we only got statutory maternity of 6 weeks at 90% then £124 a week or whatever it was.

anyone complaining about their pensions and jobs want to swap?

Do you work shifts?

Have you ever saved anyone's life (or tried and failed)?

Have you ever been the subject of a malicious allegation?

Have you ever witnessed tragic death?

Have you ever been spat at, punched or had threats made against your family?

Do you have any restrictions on your homelife?

etc etc etc etc.............................................

I might swap if you fancy any of the above?

billchecker1

There is so much envy on the topic of public sector pensions. It is palpable.

The people who complain had the choice to join.

They shouldn't moan because they didn't.

It is a promise that has been broken by the government. Simple.

It is still a good pension, no doubt but whos to say it wont change again?

deepseadiver

billchecker1 wrote: »

It is still a good pension, no doubt but whos to say it wont change again?

That's what people don't understand.

There was outcry when Endowments were not paying off mortgages.

billchecker1

But people have this idea that we are simply handed gold bars at the end of service with no effort required.

This is simply not true. Well done on your situation. You have earned it.

Most people that are non-job really wont understand the stresses and pressures that 30+ years can bring. Yes I know other jobs are just as stressful and dangerous but one thing that kept people going through it was the promise of a retirement where you were looked after.

It is one of the reasons that I changed careers for. I even took a pay cut to join.

atush

Well, you might not be, but we know of policemen who retired at 49 with over 100K lump sums and and over 20K pensions. Some live in france without a care, others here. Some have other new jobs on top, others are living the life of riley.

Those were too generous, maybe you feel the new ones aren't generous enough. the ones in between were probably still generous. So maybe the problem was the old ones were too generous and you have to pay the piper now for your older members.

The real problem is, that in that time, the world changed and people started living longer, and the finances got too tight to afford even todays PS pensions. the choice is to cancel them all to new entrants and ongoing, or to keep them in a more affordable state. I would be happy if I were you to keep them in a more afordable state. But you tell your MP what you think?

The_Angry_Jock

deepseadiver wrote: »

Do you work shifts?

Have you ever saved anyone's life (or tried and failed)?

Have you ever been the subject of a malicious allegation?

Have you ever witnessed tragic death?

Have you ever been spat at, punched or had threats made against your family?

Do you have any restrictions on your homelife?

etc etc etc etc.............................................

I might swap if you fancy any of the above?

Just about all of that could apply to someone working in Tesco.

hyubh

billchecker1 wrote: »

There is so much envy on the topic of public sector pensions. It is palpable.

How's the investigation into the Police Federation's conspiratorial role in all this going by the way? The last update we had from you was that it had ganged up with the media and David Cameron in a sinister anti-police plot - what now have you uncovered...?