Will I lose some of pension when transferring

alanco15

Hello all
I currently have a civil service pension, premium about 18 years worth
But looking to change jobs to a local authority service
I have heard that if you transfer over a pension to someone else you lose pay of your pension pot
I's this true, and if so how much
Employer being very unhelpful, and says they can't work out figures until I leave
So just after ball park figures
Any help much appreciated .
Thank you

GunJack

you won't have to transfer your CS pension into the LGPS on day one of employment, so you will have chance to get the figures and weigh up your options. I doubt whether 1 year in cs will equal 1 year transfer into lgps, but in which direction, don't know. Remember, you may be better off just deferring the cs pension and starting afresh in lgps. Just don't be hasty in the decision...

Andy_L

Because both schemes are part of the "public sector transfer club" they will both use the same assumptions over e.g. longevity, career progression, investment returns etc so it will be a "fair" calculation as opposed to a non-club transfer where both schemes tend to be pessimistic in favour of the pension fund

However a club transfer ignores changes in salary, ie if you've taken a pay rise for the new job you will win, a cut and you will probably loose.

Because premium is a better pension than the current LGPS option your 18 years will be worth more years in the LGPS (anecdotally I got ~10% on a similar CS/NHS transfer)

kidmugsy

An advantage that might matter to you someday is that you are allowed to transfer money out of LGPS to a money purchase scheme: you can't do that from the CS scheme. (Experts: please correct me if I'm wrong.)

xylophone

Is the Normal Scheme Retirement Age earlier in CS than in LGPS?

Might you be better off leaving your CS pension deferred and starting again in LGPS?

Kynthia

I believe you get 12 months to decide and you can get a quote before deciding too. However you can leave your Premium pension as deferred and start afresh with the LGPS.

You'll need to compare whether the current LGPS is better or worse fir your needs than your Premium pension. Premium you will get 60ths of your best salary according to the scheme rules for each year of reckonable service. Plus the normal retirement age is 60. You'll get a statement after you leave your current job with your pension calculation which is more accurate than the annual benefits statements you've had up until now. I don't know what the current LGPS is but many public sector schemes have moved to career average with a later retirement age so make sure you know what you are buying if you do transfer.

hyubh

alanco15 wrote: »

Hello all
I currently have a civil service pension, premium about 18 years worth
But looking to change jobs to a local authority service
I have heard that if you transfer over a pension to someone else you lose pay of your pension pot
I's this true

No for the reason previously given (the transfer will be under Club terms).

That said, under Club rules, what an old final salary civil service pension will buy is a final salary service credit in the LGPS (not a CARE pension credit as someone else suggested). In practice this will under the terms of the last final salary version of the LGPS (viz., the 2008 scheme [2009 in Scotland]). The transferred in pension would therefore be 1/60 FS (no default lump sum) but with an NPA of 65 (the service credit would be enlarged to take account of this). It would also have LGPS 2008's (relatively simple) method for calculating final pensionable pay (by default, highest of the final three year's FTE averages without applying PI to the earlier years).

Other than that, as once transferred in it would be just like you had pre-2014 LGPS membership attached to your accruing CARE pension, as kidmugsy says, the whole lot (transfer in + actual scheme service) would be transferable to DC arrangements, if you so wanted.

alanco15

Thank you all for your very informative answers
Pension really do confuse me !!
I'm not sure what the new pension will be, it is a local authority fire service pension if that helps.

So not sure what normal pension age is now I believe 60, but not certain
Does anyone know?

So how would that tie in with the CS pension

Thanks again, your all brilliant :beer:

System

Hi

I expect that you could not join the Firefighters Pension Scheme (FPS), which leaves the 2 possibilities of New Firefighters Pension Scheme (NFPS) (for those in uniform and on active duty) or the Control Room Staff in the LGPS.

All you need to do is start the new post and join the pension scheme and declare earlier pension rights that you wish to be investigated with a view to a possible transfer. To be completed within a year of joining, although as I understand it the LGPS regulations do not stipulate a statutory right to a transfer in, all authorities seem to offer it.

alanco15

It would be uniformed, operational.
I am currently operational FF for the MOD.

GunJack

alanco15 wrote: »

It would be uniformed, operational.
I am currently operational FF for the MOD.

So, which CS pension are you in? Classic, Premium or one of the later ones? (I'm ex-20 yrs in MoD, my deferred CS is in Classic, payable at 60)

You really need to check on the new pension what the normal retirement age (NRA) is, as mentioned by me and others earlier in the thread. You may find that your best option is to defer your existing pension service if payable at 60 and start afresh in the new one, especially if the new one's NRA is 65 or state pension age.

It really needs all the facts and figures in front of you to see what course of action suits you best