Retiring at 59

polardesign

HI

I am writing this on behalf of my Father.

He worked for the Surry County Council from the ade of 16 until 7 years ago his depot was taken over by Atkins Transport Managment company.

He wishes to retire at 59 This december)...but his forcast for his Surrey County Council gives projections for the age of 60.

He lives in London on his own in a Coucil house and is not really able to cope on his own since his brother died last year.

He is hoping to retire and move down to the south coast where he will be able to stay with his daughter...basically for free.

How does he go about releasing his retirement fund...I belive he can do this on compashionate grounds...

Does anyone now the way ahead

dunstonh

He needs to approach his pension administrators and probably his human resources to see if they will allow early retirement.

He also needs to be ask if they will penalise him or not for taking early retirement.

Mortgage_&_debt_free

Your Father needs to talk to the pensions section of the Council.

They will be able to give him all the information he needs.

If he no longer works there his options will probably be different than if he was still there, however the first step is to contact them.

HTH

polardesign

My father has not got a clue about pensions etc which is why I am trying to gather information.

As he is no longer paying into the scheme..will it be easier to get the pension released.

Thanks for your help

dunstonh

As he is no longer paying into the scheme..will it be easier to get the pension released.

It would make no difference.

seven-day-weekend

Usually with Local authority Schemes you cannot access your pensiion until age 60 at the earliest, and then there will usually be a reduction pro rata for every year until you are 65.

The only exception to this is normally if the Local Authority allow him to retire early on Health Grounds, when he will be able to get his pension unreduced.

He needs to talk to his Pension Provider, or authorise you to do so on his behalf. They are in the best position to tell him his options.

polardesign

He has been instructed to write to the Pensions manager at Surrey County Council.

This is a reply to an email sent to them yesterdaty...

***************************************
If he wishes to apply for early payment on compassionate grounds, he needs
to write to the Pensions Manager in the first instance. If he feels Mr XXX has sufficiently strong grounds, the Pensions Manager may submit the case
to the Council's Corporate Scrutiny Group for consideration.

I should add that there would need to be sufficiently compelling
circumstances for an application to be successful. Financial hardship, for
example, would not in it's own right normally be considered suitable
grounds.

**************************************
What would be good enough compassionate grounds for him to retire early.
As he lives on his own and is not coping very well..he wishes to retire and move to the south coast to be nearer his family.
Obviously he will require the pension to retire and relocate..I do not see this as financial hardship...

What do you think...he needs to get a way ahead so that he can contact his current employers to take early retirement as well...

Thanks again

dunstonh

What would be good enough compassionate grounds for him to retire early.

His own poor health is the most common reason.

When someone (in Govt backed final salary schemes) takes early retirement, it costs the taxpayer. So, it has to be justified. There has been a general tightening up on early retirement because it was abused in the past.

seven-day-weekend

I feel I must warn the Op that ill-health retirement is VERY difficult to get these days.

But good luck anyway.

Debt_Free_Chick

polardesign wrote: »

He has been instructed to write to the Pensions manager at Surrey County Council.

This is a reply to an email sent to them yesterdaty...

***************************************
If he wishes to apply for early payment on compassionate grounds, he needs
to write to the Pensions Manager in the first instance. If he feels Mr XXX has sufficiently strong grounds, the Pensions Manager may submit the case
to the Council's Corporate Scrutiny Group for consideration.

I should add that there would need to be sufficiently compelling
circumstances for an application to be successful. Financial hardship, for
example, would not in it's own right normally be considered suitable
grounds.

**************************************
What would be good enough compassionate grounds for him to retire early.
As he lives on his own and is not coping very well..he wishes to retire and move to the south coast to be nearer his family.
Obviously he will require the pension to retire and relocate..I do not see this as financial hardship...

What do you think...he needs to get a way ahead so that he can contact his current employers to take early retirement as well...

Thanks again

WHOOAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Why an application on compassionate grounds? This would be a request for Surrey County Council (SCC) to pay his pension early, with no reduction, due to very special circumstances. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

SCC pensions are part of the Local Goverment Pension Scheme (LGPS), as far as I am aware. Can you check his papers and confirm this is so?

If so, then as he no longer works for SCC, he has a deferred pension in the LGPS. Normally, his deferred pension would be paid when he reaches age 60. But he can apply for early payment before then without any special "compassionate" grounds - he only needs his previous employer's permission, but his pension is likely to be reduced as he would be receiving it one year early.

Forget "compassionate grounds" for the moment, as this is a completely different and more complex process. It's a special request for him to have his pension paid early, with no reduction - there would need to be specific circumstances to justify this and your post doesn't suggest that it would be applicable.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "pension release" - I think he just wants his pension paid early.

Just ask the pension administrator for an illustration of the pension that would be paid, if the employer agreed to early payment from age 59. You and/or he can look at the figures and see if retirement is affordable.

Should he want to go ahead and take a reduced pension, look at the quotation from the pension administrator and follow their instructions. It may be that the administrator gets the employer's decision - especially as it's permission to take a reduced pension.

If you really think he is entitled to a "special" pension, paid early, with no reduction on "compassionate" grounds, then rehearse your arguments here and we can help.

polardesign

Thanks for that excellent post...I have emailed SCC pensions to clarify the pension.

He finished on there pension scheme about 7-8 years ago...so will have to wait for the reply..

Will keep you posted

Thanks for the help