Civil Service Pensions 2015

fmonkey

With the changes that are to come to CS pensions in 2015 is anyone at that point considering transferring to the Partnership scheme at that point?

The trouble I have with the proposed scheme is that it is linked to state pension age i.e 68. To retire sooner is to sacrifice some of the income. I very much plan to retire at 60, if not before.

I'm just after peoples thought.

hugheskevi

With the changes that are to come to CS pensions in 2015 is anyone at that point considering transferring to the Partnership scheme at that point?

If you joined prior to 2002, you may well not be able to change (you cannot currently).

If you are in Nuvos you may well be considering switching before 2015 if you are a higher earner and young due to the tiered contribution increases (it can also be worth changing from Premium too, but that only applies in a very limited range of cases, for young higher earners intending to leave fairly within about 5 years with no prospect of promotion, and even then it is not clear-cut).

Assuming Partnership remained unchanged - which is a very big assumption - it would be a very competitive alternative in 2015 for many. However, it would depend on individual circumstances - the tiering of employee contributions tends to make it a better choice for higher earners whilst the nature of a DB schemes being more advantageous for older people means that younger higher earners are those who would get most from Partnership (although the age thing is to a large extent offset by the age-related employer contributions in Partnership, but as the Civil Service scheme will have one of the lowest revaluation rates in the public sector (CPI, whereas most be higher than that) the future scheme will be better for older members.

The trouble I have with the proposed scheme is that it is linked to state pension age i.e 68

It has been announced that State Pension age will be linked to longevity. That is likely to increase it beyond 68. There have been 3 changes to State Pension age in the last 20 years, so it is likely there will be further changes in the future if the longevity link doesn't happen.

To retire sooner is to sacrifice some of the income.

A little pedantic perhaps, but to commence the pension early is to reduce the headline rate. You are free to retire whenever you like, and if the early retirement factors are harsh you wouldn't necessarily commence the pension.

Linton

fmonkey wrote: »

With the changes that are to come to CS pensions in 2015 is anyone at that point considering transferring to the Partnership scheme at that point?

The trouble I have with the proposed scheme is that it is linked to state pension age i.e 68. To retire sooner is to sacrifice some of the income. I very much plan to retire at 60, if not before.

I'm just after peoples thought.

I suggest that to retire early it would be sensible to put money into stocks & shares ISAs and to plan to live off your savings whilst awaiting your pension. This gives you complete flexibility.