In laymens terms, what does Career average pension mean and am I paying more than I am saving?

Joey_Soap

OP, you have a pension scheme that is about as good as it gets today. I urge you to fully understand the plan you are in. Most folks out there would be quite envious of what you are accruing. Good luck with your future career.

LHW99

Also, "career average" means that if you end up before you retire getting promotion(s), and therefore increasing your take home pay, what you pay this year may be an even smaller proportion of what actually ends up being your annual pension when you finally get to retirement age.

hyubh

LHW99 said:

Also, "career average" means that if you end up before you retire getting promotion(s), and therefore increasing your take home pay, what you pay this year may be an even smaller proportion of what actually ends up being your annual pension when you finally get to retirement age.

Only if you ignore the fact the accural rate in the CARE LGPS is much better than the accrual rate in the final salary scheme it replaced. So yes, late career promptions don't retrospectively inflate the value of previous membership, however that value is much higher than it would have been in the first place.