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Added Pension and EPA for Civil Service Alpha Pension
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sourz7
Posts: 17 Forumite


Hi
I am trying to plan for my retirement (30 years off) and am taking stock of what I have and what i could do to increase my chances of retiring early with a decent amount of income.
I have 10 years of Premium Scheme (which stopped back in 2015) and then I am continuing in the Alpha scheme.
Having read the information and looked at the calculator it seems that I would pay an extra 3.5% monthly to buy the EPA-3. However this would mean my alpha added pension would be 120% and so I could not also use Added Pension.
But this equates to only £100 per month difference in my salary, where as I am looking at spend around £600 per month for long term investment/retirement planning.
So should I forget EPA and do Added Pension or should I investigate doing a SIPP??
I have contacted a number of independent financial advisors but struggling to find someone with deep expertise and knowledge of the Civil Service Pensions.
Additional Info:
I am 38, no mortgage or debts.
Thanks for any guidance or pointers anyone could provide
I am trying to plan for my retirement (30 years off) and am taking stock of what I have and what i could do to increase my chances of retiring early with a decent amount of income.
I have 10 years of Premium Scheme (which stopped back in 2015) and then I am continuing in the Alpha scheme.
Having read the information and looked at the calculator it seems that I would pay an extra 3.5% monthly to buy the EPA-3. However this would mean my alpha added pension would be 120% and so I could not also use Added Pension.
But this equates to only £100 per month difference in my salary, where as I am looking at spend around £600 per month for long term investment/retirement planning.
So should I forget EPA and do Added Pension or should I investigate doing a SIPP??
I have contacted a number of independent financial advisors but struggling to find someone with deep expertise and knowledge of the Civil Service Pensions.
Additional Info:
I am 38, no mortgage or debts.
Thanks for any guidance or pointers anyone could provide
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Comments
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I'm 38 and have been in the Alpha Scheme since 2015.
My plan has been to buy £1 less than the maximum Added Pension allowed over a 10 year period and then from year 11 onward I will buy EPA-3. The rules mean this is the only way I could max out my Added Pension and then do EPA. That might be something to think about.
Here's another thread which might be helpful: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76733090#Comment_767330901 -
I am a bit closer to retirement than you, and hope to retire around aged 58-60. I plan to not take any of my DB schemes early, but rather fund any gap between early retirement and when DB/state pension kicks in with SIPP drawdown.My plan is to ensure I have enough guaranteed DB/state pension income to cover our day to day spending, have enough in the SIPP to cover the gap years, and then anything else is a bonus. Assuming I continue to work to 58-59, I'll hit those targets, so like you it's now a case of working out which offers a better deal for any surplus contributions.For me, SIPP gives me more flexibility but added alpha pension looks great value and the older I get the more attractive that guarantee looks. I did not consider EPA as I was unsure how to calculate it's value relative to added pension.Next tax year I've decided to focus / increase my added alpha pension contributions rather than using my SIPP as they seem good value to me and I'd like to top up my guaranteed income a little. I've maximised my added alpha pension contributions to the point I will pay no income tax on my salary, any additional contributions will go to my SIPP.That said, if the current coronavirus situation causes a very large market correction, you may be better diverting any available funds into a SIPP over the next 12 months whilst equities may represent better value for money.1
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pathsofdarkness said:I'm 38 and have been in the Alpha Scheme since 2015.
My plan has been to buy £1 less than the maximum Added Pension allowed over a 10 year period and then from year 11 onward I will buy EPA-3. The rules mean this is the only way I could max out my Added Pension and then do EPA. That might be something to think about.
Here's another thread which might be helpful: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76733090#Comment_76733090
Thanks for your reply. I also read a few of your other threads which has been useful.
Using the added pension calculator it looks like if i do £600 per monthly, that will add £830 to my pension. Is that figure for just doing 1 year of Added Pension or is that doing it for the next 29 years. It mentions contract start but it doesn't say how long it is calculating for.
Maybe I am better off just trying to calculate it myself?
PENSIONABLE PAY + £7200 (the money I can do in a single year) * 2.32% * number of years I want to do Added Contribution for.
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sourz7 said:pathsofdarkness said:I'm 38 and have been in the Alpha Scheme since 2015.
My plan has been to buy £1 less than the maximum Added Pension allowed over a 10 year period and then from year 11 onward I will buy EPA-3. The rules mean this is the only way I could max out my Added Pension and then do EPA. That might be something to think about.
Here's another thread which might be helpful: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76733090#Comment_76733090
Thanks for your reply. I also read a few of your other threads which has been useful.
Using the added pension calculator it looks like if i do £600 per monthly, that will add £830 to my pension. Is that figure for just doing 1 year of Added Pension or is that doing it for the next 29 years. It mentions contract start but it doesn't say how long it is calculating for.
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