Police Pension

ventureuk

Retirement from the Police is now only 10 years away and if goes like the last 20 then if I blink I'll miss it. I will only be 48 and up to now the only wise financial move I have made was to buy my own home at 18 meaning my mortgage will be minimal at retirement (combination of endowment/repayment). Apart from a car loan I have no other debt and after 4 years of rebuilding/extending a 1930's bungalow I have no savings. My current home is worth around £300000 and in 10 years will of course be worth an appropriate % more.

Without wanting to wish my life away I feel I should start to plan now for what I want/need at retirement. I intend touring the US and Europe for a couple of years in an RV with my wife and daughter before choosing a nice spot to buy a holiday home, selling the UK home for a smaller one and splitting my time between here and there whilst working part time in the UK to top up the pension. An anticipated £140000 lump sum and £1600 a month less tax based on an Excel calculator that is doing the rounds.

What I want and what I get can be quite different but there's no harm in planning.

There are plenty of people linked to my job willing to give advice but before I knock on their door MSE advice would be very much appreciated.

So retiring in 10 yrs at 48 with money to save/invest what would you do, I am not risk averse, like the idea of funds and am in it for the long haul.

dunstonh

You cannot commence pensions at age 48. Your earliest commencement age is 55.

You can retire early but you wont be able to draw the pension. You will have to fund that period using other means. How does that impact on your plans?

Louise1521

As far as I'm aware as long as you've paid in for 30 years you can draw your police pension at 48. Hope so, the damn thing costs enough each month.

mjr600

dunstonh

I'm afraid you are very wrong, you can draw a pension if you have been a Police Officer at 48 if you have served 30 years, it's not indexed linked until you get to 55.

dunstonh

Is that still the case though following last years rule changes?

I dont have any scheme booklet to hand and have no clients working for the police so have no reference points (apart from a friend who is a police officer but in the MOD scheme).

edit: looked up the scheme details and changes were made last year but only to new entrants. New entrants are 55 but those on the 1987 scheme can go earlier.

You can retire and receive an immediate pension (as opposed to a deferred pension - see below) at the earliest of (depending on your pensionable service - see below):

• after 30 years’ service – making the earliest age in effect 48½ unless you have brought in outside service
• at 50 with 25 years’ service
• at 55 if you are a constable or sergeant in any force with less than 25 years’ service
• at 55 if you are a inspector, chief inspector, superintendent or chief superintendent in the Metropolitan Police with less than 25 years’ service
• at 57 if you are a commander or deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police with less than 25 years’ service
• in all other cases at 60.

Louise1521

The new scheme states 55 as retirement age, old scheme is when you've hit 30 years. Would imagine the MOD scheme is completely different.

Debt_Free_Chick

dunstonh wrote: »

Is that still the case though following last years rule changes?

You and I are used to dealing with the Tax Rules as they apply to occupational pension schemes.

Remember that the public sector schemes are not governed by those Tax Rules - instead, there's a whole raft of separate statutes that apply to them.

Given that "Public Sector" roughly translates into "Government Employees", I don't think we should be surprised to find that anything unpalatable in the Tax Rules doesn't find it's way into the statutes governing the Public Sector schemes

ventureuk

I am a member of the 'old' scheme, I do know new officers have to do 35yrs or until they are 55, whichever comes first.

I do realise that retiring at 48 is unusual nay unheard of in the private sector but is quite common for a number of officers who started as cadets aged 16 and were sworn in at 18 1/2, there are thousands of us out there.

It has caused a little disquiet amongst people I know who are not coppers but the life expectancy of a retired officer is statistically short hence my plan to make the most of those years and cancer has a habit of wiping out the male members of my family in their 60's.

So in order to have the most bang for my buck, should my spare money go in a private pension to draw at 55, the Bank/BS, a fund.....

Debt_Free_Chick

ventureuk wrote: »

I am a member of the 'old' scheme, I do know new officers have to do 35yrs or until they are 55, whichever comes first.

I do realise that retiring at 48 is unusual nay unheard of in the private sector but is quite common for a number of officers who started as cadets aged 16 and were sworn in at 18 1/2, there are thousands of us out there.

It has caused a little disquiet amongst people I know who are not coppers but the life expectancy of a retired officer is statistically short hence my plan to make the most of those years and cancer has a habit of wiping out the male members of my family in their 60's.

So in order to have the most bang for my buck, should my spare money go in a private pension to draw at 55, the Bank/BS, a fund.....

I think our only gripe is that schemes in the private sector had no option to introduce a new minimum retirement age of 55 - it's overiding legislation which has been applied, by the Government (HMRC) retrospectively.

So those who had planned to retire when they reached age 50 now find that the Government have moved the goalposts .... which is not what has happened in the pension schemes for their own employees.

I have every sympathy with the situation of Police Officers and others in similar roles - but the Government could have allowed the private sector to do the same i.e. only introduce the changes for new employees.

Our gripe is not against the Police (far from it, in my case) but against the politicians who seem to like to look after themselves (nothing new there then! :rolleyes: )

Regards

dunstonh

I have read in the past that the typical life expectancy of a police officer is just 2 years post retirement. Primary reason given was the effects of shift work.

I think our only gripe is that schemes in the private sector had no option to introduce a new minimum retirement age of 55 - it's overiding legislation which has been applied, by the Government (HMRC) retrospectively.

Wasnt it called pension simplification at the start?

Debt_Free_Chick

dunstonh wrote: »

I have read in the past that the typical life expectancy of a police officer is just 2 years post retirement. Primary reason given was the effects of shift work.



Wasnt it called pension simplification at the start?

Indeed - simpler for HMRC to collect more tax or, at least, give less away :rotfl: