Alpha or Partnership

BobQ

For most people Alpha is better than Partnership because the employer contribution is higher. But Alpha has a minimum contribution (5.45%). As stated by others it really depends on what the OP needs and does.

If he is 49 and definitely going to retire at 55 it seems likely that he has already decided he has enough income to live on at that time? If he joins Alpha for 6 years and does retire at 55, the Alpha Pension earned would only provide the full income at state retirement age (67?). Drawing it at 55 would mean that he only gets about half of it after actuarial reduction.

The advantage of Partnership is that the cash can be accessed much earlier (55) without actuarial reduction. So if he already has a good pension and definitely retires at 55 he may prefer Partnership so that he can drawdown the cash. Partnership also has the benefit that he can choose to pay 0% contributions (just getting the employer contribution) or up to 100% of pensionable pay. So with a police pension and a civil service salary (which he may not really need) he could use Partnership to build up a higher pension pot at 55.

Of course there may be tax implications of drawing the Police Pension and still contributing to Partnership ? It would certainly be more flexible if he does retire at 55. Of course if he carries on working to say 63, it would have been a poor decision!

ETA - Alpha and Partnership will probably have different terms for ill health and death benefits

BobQ

Brynsam wrote: »

OP wants to 'fully retire' at 55, so it sounds as if maximising pension provision, rather than flexibility, is the priority.

As you say, Partnership is excellent as DC arrangements go - but don't forget years of DB pension are worth 'more' the older you are (and having a 2/3 final salary pension already doesn't alter that) - probably considerably more than the Partnership 17.75%.

True, but the Alpha pension is not payable for 12 years without actuarial reduction and might be worth £1400 a year based on a £25K salary if drawn at 55. Will that make such a difference to the OP's income?

BobQ

marlot wrote: »

If you search on here, this question has been asked a few times.


As someone who joined the civil service at 49 and retired at 55, alpha worked well for me, even after the actuarial reduction.

Alpha was only introduced on 1 April 2015 as I recall, so you must have been in another scheme before then, Nuvos?

MancJonny

This video should help the OP, as it discusses both Alpha & Partnership:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq3lEA_z9zA