Shall I transfer my NHS pension to my civil service pension?

My_username

Can anyone please advise if it is any beneficial to transfer the small pot (around 5 years of service) I have in the NHS pension into my new civil service pension? I’m in my late 30s, it’s very unlikely I’ll be returning to work for the NHS.
Thank you.

Emmia

My_username said:

Can anyone please advise if it is any beneficial to transfer the small pot (around 5 years of service) I have in the NHS pension into my new civil service pension? I’m in my late 30s, it’s very unlikely I’ll be returning to work for the NHS.
Thank you.

I wouldn't rely on strangers from the internet for this advice - there are too many varables. e.g. the scheme(s) you're in, whether your pension(s) comes under the remit of the consultation... how the pension benefits may be affected by transfer and indeed whether you can actually transfer the pension in, as this is not guaranteed. 

My CSP runs webinar sessions called "pension power" that you can sign up to, which may help you understand pensions better though. I'm not sure if NHS pensions are fully separate, but if they are you may find they do something similar.

This probably also constitutes "financial advice" which is against forum rules.

hugheskevi

My_username said:

Can anyone please advise if it is any beneficial to transfer the small pot (around 5 years of service) I have in the NHS pension into my new civil service pension? I’m in my late 30s, it’s very unlikely I’ll be returning to work for the NHS.

Based on the above, it sounds like your service is all (or mostly) in the post 2015 NHS Career Average pension scheme.

If so, if you leave it in the NHS scheme as a deferred pension award it will increase in line with inflation, currently measured by CPI. If instead you transfer it to the Civil Service scheme (known as a Club Transfer) it will retain the indexation you would have received whilst being an active member of the  NHS scheme, which means it would increase in line with CPI+1.5%. Section 01C of the alpha scheme linked above gives details about transfers-in.

whether your pension(s) comes under the remit of the current cabinet office consultation

Presumably this is a reference to the consultation entitled "Public service pension schemes consultation: changes to the transitional arrangements to the 2015 schemes," which closed last week, in which case it is a HM Treasury consultation rather than a Cabinet Office consultation.

I'm not sure if NHS pensions are fully separate

They are.