Employer changing from DB to DC

Southend1

kidmugsy wrote: »

I served on the branch committee, if that's what you mean. The main lesson I learned was that the other committee members also despised the union officers and their uselessness.

Good to hear! So many posters on this forum moan about their unions but don't realise that they have the power to change things for the better if they get actively involved.

I've found that some local and regional organisers aren't that clued up about pensions but my union generally is pretty good at helping members understand their pensions and working to protect them.

PensionTech

My other question is i have worked for the company for 15 years, 8 years part time. The switch over date for moving to DC is 2016. Would i be better off going full time for the next 2 years as final salary is based on last 3 years salary.

As Southend1 has already said: "pensionable salary" in a final salary pension scheme is usually calculated on FTE salary, with your service reduced instead to take account of the fact that you were part time, so going full-time won't make a difference to your salary in the way you've described.

Example
So let's say your salary is £30,000 FTE, and you've worked 7 years full-time and then the last 8 years half time (i.e. your actual take-home salary at the moment is £15,000), and let's assume you're in an "80ths" scheme. Then the pension you've built up would be:
£30,000 x (7 years full + 8 years x 0.5 rate) / 80
= £30,000 x 11 / 80 = £4,125 per annum.

If you worked the next two years at half time:
£30,000 x (7 years full + 10 years x 0.5 rate) / 80 = £4,500 per annum.

If you worked the next two years at full time:
£30,000 x (7 years full + 8 years x 0.5 rate + 2 more years full) / 80 = £4,875 per annum.


Should you go full-time? Well, it might not make a dramatic difference to your pension on its own, but a final salary pension is a great thing to have, and if you can earn more of it by accruing more service before the scheme is closed - plus earning more money - then why not. It really depends why you've gone part-time, and how viable it would be for you to return to full-time.