NHS retirement at 55

Pat38493

joop123 said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Think carefully of retiring early and returning to work.  You will lose 20% of your pension by going at 55 unless you're special class.  May not seem much if you're continuing work, but will be when you're no longer working.

Thanks. Fortunately I am in the special class. Hoping the other figures work out 🤞

If you mean that you have MHO status or some kind of equivalent, this is the same situation that my wife was in, and indeed it's fortunate.

Be aware that if you worked part time for any periods during your career, you might find that your pension is reduced accordingly, even if you worked full time for more than enough years that you feel you should qualify for the full amount (it's only a small reduction but was a bit of a surprise).  NHS Pensions have a strange way of calculating adjustments for periods of part time working that effectively means it's impossible for you to accrue a full pension before age 55 if you worked a single day of part time working before that (although it's only a very small change).  

If in doubt ask them for the full workings of their calculations and an explanation and complain and pester them until they provide it (which will take weeks/months).

Also prior to early 2022, I think if that's your status you could have got more doubled years by staying where you are as you could start getting doubled years again once reaching 55, which would have been a reason not to leave and go back.  However I think (and you would need to double check) that this capability was removed when the full findings of Mccloud were implemented.