My NHS Guestimate..Advice Please

Wolfwolf

Hi
Having no luck with agency or employer as will not give pension forcast until 1 year before retirement.

If I retire at 55..5 years time..based on figures I have

based on my latest Total rewards statement

1995 scheme 17 reckonable membership
23 years calendar membership years .
Reward statement 19,662..so x 79% = 15532
Lump Sum 58,886 so @55 =50406

2015 scheme ( State Pension age is 67 )
Pension earned 2016-2018= 2816
Expected pensionable earnings per year to 55= 938/year

pension @55 7506 ( 2816 + 5x938)... x 55.4% = 4158

Am I in the right ball park here ?

HappyHarry

You should be able to ask NHS for an estimate.

See here: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/getting-estimate-your-pension

Wolfwolf

I applied for a forecast through my employer who referred it on to NHS BSA. NHSBSA have replied to say they cannot do a forecast for anything over 1 year from retirement, hence my asking here for a bit of advice..

I'm basing the figures on my Total Reward Statement, which is what the link alludes to and the Early Retirement Factsheet..sorry, can't do a link as I'm new to the boards..just want to make sure I've got it basically right based on my TRS

ManMadeWays

If you want an accurate estimate >1 year before NRA you can pay £75 and it will be provided. Why is TRS no good ?

crv1963

They managed to give me a pension estimate 5 years before retirement date, and I'm still working. Ask for a Pension Forecast, give projected retirement date(s), 55, 60 and SPA.


They only answer exactly what you clearly ask, everything else if unclear comes back as "we can't predict".


Hope this helps.

Twoplus

If you retire at 55 in 5 years time are you sure you have been paying into into the 2015 scheme from 2016. I am your age and have taper relief which means I don't move into the 2015 scheme until later this year.
TRS should give you a rough figure, but it will not be precise as the final amount is based on your best years salary over the last 3 years before retiring.

Twoplus

It looks you want to retire before your NRA in the 1995 scheme (you don't have special class status so you can't retire at 55 without reduction? This also explains why you don't have taper relief)

So yes I would say your calculation looks about right for the 1995 scheme, except it will be based on your highest years salary in the final 3 years of working. Your 2015 calculation also looks to be a fair estimate.

mollycat

It doesn't say in your OP, but if you are an MHO and are part time, watch out for a nasty surprise at retiral.

OH had accrued 39.5/80ths over a calendar service of 42 years. She went p/t 3 years ago thinking there was no point in accruing over 40/80ths at age 55 and was happy enough with the p/t salary for her final few years, knowing that her pension would be calculated pro-rata to this.

SPPA are now adamant that her service is now adjusted to 38.5/80ths as only the "best 40 calendar years count", and that any yearly statement for a part-time MHO "can be ignored".

Despite thinking we had a good knowledge of the 1995 scheme, this came as news to us, (every schoolboy knows you cannot accrue more than 40/80ths at 55), the limited use of calendar service I had not seen written down anywhere.

Despite our surprise and mild annoyance, (for OH an 1/80th is about £35/month, lump sum deficit a couple of thousand), we now accept this is correct as we have been told by several different employees at SSPA, including the MHO team supervisor.

Food for thought for anyone thinking of going p/t in their final few years to tiptoe over, (or near to), the 40/80ths finish line.

Twoplus

I think this person is either a doctor or high management as it looks like they have a salary of plus £90,000?

tacpot12

A Consultant retiring from the NHS will usually have a final salary in excess of £90K.

It might be worth knowing that the NHS actuarial reductions are applied based on the month you retire, and delaying retirement by a month will reduce the actuarial reduction by approx. 0.33% - if your wife has a large amount cash savings, she might consider using some of this to delay claiming her NHS pension by a few months to increase the amount of pension and the lump sum that is paid. Getting a zero-percent credit card and living off that for a couple of months and using the pension lump sum to clear the card before any interest becomes payable is one way to make this work.

I didn't know about the "only the best 40 years count" rule, and I have been looking at my partner's NHS Pension very closely as she wants to retire shortly. I don't think it will affect her, but it is something I will now check. Thanks WolfWolf.

crv1963

mollycat wrote: »

It doesn't say in your OP, but if you are an MHO and are part time, watch out for a nasty surprise at retiral.

OH had accrued 39.5/80ths over a calendar service of 42 years. She went p/t 3 years ago thinking there was no point in accruing over 40/80ths at age 55 and was happy enough with the p/t salary for her final few years, knowing that her pension would be calculated pro-rata to this.

SPPA are now adamant that her service is now adjusted to 38.5/80ths as only the "best 40 calendar years count", and that any yearly statement for a part-time MHO "can be ignored".

Despite thinking we had a good knowledge of the 1995 scheme, this came as news to us, (every schoolboy knows you cannot accrue more than 40/80ths at 55), the limited use of calendar service I had not seen written down anywhere.

Despite our surprise and mild annoyance, (for OH an 1/80th is about £35/month, lump sum deficit a couple of thousand), we now accept this is correct as we have been told by several different employees at SSPA, including the MHO team supervisor.

Food for thought for anyone thinking of going p/t in their final few years to tiptoe over, (or near to), the 40/80ths finish line.

I'm a MHO and at a pre-retirement course we spent time with one of the Trust Retirement Officers. I already knew working 55-58 can add another 5/80ths if you already have 40/80ths of pensionable service. What I did discover is that the increase accrual rate doesn't start on your 55 birthday, but at the incremental date following your birthday.


So if by chance your incremental date is before your birthday you may have to work four years (almost) to get the extra 5/80ths. My incremental date was two days after my birthday but having just changed posts (same employer) I have had an e-mail confirming that I have transferred teams, so will keep a close eye on this months payslip to see if they have changed my incremental date to this month or kept it where it was.


Also pensions officer did inform us the 1995 scheme didn't have the flexibility to work part time in the run up to retirement for a long length of time. Regardless of the quirks of the scheme it still is a good one. The best year out of the final three to have your pension based upon if full time.