Local authority voluntary early retirement

ElephantBoy57

Due to COVID and local authorities being short on funds, they are asking for people will to take early severance/retirement.

I have sent them an email to find out more. I am 58, so I cannot see they would offer me enough to retire.

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of this. My last pension forecast said that I would get around £2,500 I cannot see that changing, maybe just a few thousand severance pay. It did say a minimum of £1,000

I do have a work colleague of similar age with ill health, maybe it would be right for her?

Dox

ElephantBoy57 said:

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of this. My last pension forecast said that I would get around £2,500 I cannot see that changing, maybe just a few thousand severance pay. It did say a minimum of £1,000

I do have a work colleague of similar age with ill health, maybe it would be right for her?

Only way to know is to wait for the answer, otherwise it's pure guesswork which will either raise your hopes unduly, or make you more pessimistic than you need to be.

As to your colleague, up to her to apply if she wishes to do so.

NedS

If you left could you afford to retire now? Do you have other retirement provision (savings, pensions)?

If not, how easy do you think it would be to find another job?

These packages tend to work well for people who had been thinking of retiring anyway and this just happens to come along at the right time for them and give them the nudge they needed. I have a number of colleagues who have been waiting for such an offer for a number of years, ever hoping they could depart on favourable terms.

Nebulous2

The generosity of the retirement packages has reduced quite a bit over the years. I work for an ‘admitted body’ to a local authority pension scheme. I too have large numbers of colleagues desperate for an offer. They aren’t willing to leave without it and take the actuarial reduction that would involve. 

ElephantBoy57

NedS said:

If you left could you afford to retire now? Do you have other retirement provision (savings, pensions)?

If not, how easy do you think it would be to find another job?

I am just curious how much they will be giving away, people are always negative about local authorities giving away money, I would like to know for myself.

I cannot afford to retire now, but always thinking about giving up work and doing odd jobs.

Andy_L

ElephantBoy57 said:

NedS said:

If you left could you afford to retire now? Do you have other retirement provision (savings, pensions)?

If not, how easy do you think it would be to find another job?

I am just curious how much they will be giving away, people are always negative about local authorities giving away money, I would like to know for myself.

I cannot afford to retire now, but always thinking about giving up work and doing odd jobs.

"If you lose your job because of redundancy or business efficiency, provided you are aged 55 or over and you meet the 2 year vesting period [ie you've been an active member for 2+ years], your main benefits are payable immediately without any early retirement reductions."

https://www.lgpsmember.org/tol/thinking-leaving-when.php

AlanP_2

I doubt very much that they are giving away anything.

The redundancy amount will be based on whatever their policy is and whether you get unreduced access to your pwension will be covered by the rules Andy_L linked to above.

The typical process is to look at an individual cost / saving over 3 years. If it's cheaper to let them go it's a YES, if it's more expensive it's a NO. If their work was going to be shared out through overtime or something then those added costs would be factored in as will the "need" for your particular role / skillset,

Westertonbilly

AlanP_2 said:

I doubt very much that they are giving away anything.

The redundancy amount will be based on whatever their policy is and whether you get unreduced access to your pwension will be covered by the rules Andy_L linked to above.

The typical process is to look at an individual cost / saving over 3 years. If it's cheaper to let them go it's a YES, if it's more expensive it's a NO. If their work was going to be shared out through overtime or something then those added costs would be factored in as will the "need" for your particular role / skillset,

Anyone know how the strain on the fund "cost" is calculated in such a scenario?

ElephantBoy57

I am shocked, they have offered me £7,500 which is slightly less than 6 months pay, the pension pay starting in 2021 looks higher too, I thought that was at around £3,000 but they are saying its £4,000+

daveyjp

They haven't 'offered' you £7,500, that will be what you are due under the redundancy payment policy.

It will be a combination of age, years of service and salary.