Guaranteed minimum pension questions

JezR

catch23 wrote: »

It's very confusing. I have a state pension estimate from march 2009 that says i will have the basic state pension(at the rate it was then) plus 'Additional State Pension' of £35.00 per annum. That forecast was issued by my employer. Later in Aug 2011 as i retired and took my Teachers pension i got a forecast directly from the Pension Service that said that when i reach 65 i would get a basic state pension plus additional state pension of £0.00 plus Graduated Retirement Benefit of £0.71 per week.

...

God knows what GRB is!

Graduated pension was the enhanced pension paid for by NI contributions between 1961 and 1975. You are of an age where you would have probably paid these in the early years of your working life - not for long as shown by the small benefit. This is totally separate from additional pension schemes from 1978 onwards.

catch23

Thanks for that Xylophone. Although difficult it is more comprehensive explanation than anything else i have seen. The bit i like best is:

"The department’s note makes it abundantly clear that no ordinary mortal could check the calculations attributable to his particular circumstances."

So we just have to take it on trust. Hopefully the Pensions service are more reliable than the company HR departments. My last employers got my start of employment date wrong by a full year until i informed them otherwise and Ferranti got my date of birth wrong by a full year.