Deferred pension

woolly_wombat

Will you actually need to get your hands on this pension fund when you reach 55?

If not then you are likely to be better off in the long term if you can afford to leave it where it is until 65.

If you are still working then you could whack as much as you can into a personal pension, then draw down from that to cover the gap between stopping work and taking your old pension at 65 and your State Pension at the age you become eligible for that.

xylophone

Do you have a certificate of deferred benefits which show your GMP and excess over GMP at date of leaving service?

Do you have a scheme booklet which explains how your pension revalues in deferment?

Does your Scheme use "Fixed Rate" revaluation of GMP in deferment?

See

https://www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk/comment-insight/blog/2014/08/18/what-is-a-gmp/

https://www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk/comment-insight/blog/2012/07/24/revaluation-for-early-leavers/

Your Scheme must pay you a pension at least equal to your revalued GMP at GMP age.

You have asked to take your benefits ten years early.

This would involve an actuarial reduction to your benefits.

These benefits would then be index linked in payment.

Your scheme actuary has calculated that at age 65 your pension in payment would not have reached an amount equal to your revalued GMP.

Therefore you have been refused early payment.

It might be possible to take benefits before age 65 at some point in the future.

xylophone

Have you obtained a new state pension forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Stevesam64

Not yet, I'm waiting for my new one to turn up