Civil Service pension - Classic & Alpha

westv

sammyjammy said:

westv said:

I don't doubt £10k is correct. My wife's Classic will be £9,700 and she has worked full time since she started there mid 80s.

Are you taking the additional time for the McCloud judgement into consideration?

No. That's Classic up to 2015.

hugheskevi

Tufty199 said:

I also have an Alpha pension which I need to contribute into until I am 67 in order to receive my maximum benefits.

To get maximum benefits under alpha you would continue in the scheme until age 75. Not only would you accrue 8 more years of alpha pension, but would also benefit from an actuarial enhancement to the pension due to claiming it after State Pension age. This would result in a much higher pension from age 75 than age 67.

The point is, don't get hung up on 'maximum' benefits, work out what financial amount is needed and how best to achieve that.

However from what I can see the only way to receive my Classic pension benefits at 60 (£10 000 p.a.) is by taking partial retirement. 

You could also switch to Partnership shortly before age 60. If you reach age 60 as a deferred member then abatement would not apply to your classic benefits. Unfortunately, Partnership is quite considerably less generous than alpha for older members though.

Is that right or am I missing something? 

You are being given an incentive to move to another employer -  you can do whatever you like with both classic and alpha pension if you work for any employer other than the Civil Service.

Tufty199

Thanks to everyone for replying, its been interesting reading everyone's views and others in situations like mine.

It would seem I am not missing anything so at least I am straight on that, although I do wish I was wrong as it means the current partial retirement/abatement scenario is totally unfair to people who were forced to leave Classic and move into another scheme. It particularly stings when most of my work colleagues are retirees from other areas of the public sector and are all enjoying a full pension as well as full wages.

At least I am 56 so I have a few years to argue for fairer treatment and await the McCloud judgement (although I'm not sure this will help me). 

Golactico

The McCloud judgement is in and the remedy already established.

Basically, the affected period is the 7 years from April 2015 to April 2022.  When you take your Classic pension, you will have the option as to whether these 7 years are treated as additional years for your Classic pension, or they remain as they currently are, within the Alpha scheme. Calculations will be provided at the time you need to decide as to merits of taking either option. For me, I've done some sums and I already know that I'm best off leaving those 7 years in Alpha. This is usually the case for those whose service has been in the lower CS grades (AO/EO).

Any service from April 2022 onwards, will be Alpha for everyone. 

westv

Golactico said:

The McCloud judgement is in and the remedy already established.

Basically, the affected period is the 7 years from April 2015 to April 2022.  When you take your Classic pension, you will have the option as to whether these 7 years are treated as additional years for your Classic pension, or they remain as they currently are, within the Alpha scheme. Calculations will be provided at the time you need to decide as to merits of taking either option. For me, I've done some sums and I already know that I'm best off leaving those 7 years in Alpha. This is usyouually the case for those whose service has been in the lower CS grades (AO/EO).

Any service from April 2022 onwards, will be Alpha for everyone. 

Are  basing your figures on taking Alpha at 60 or waiting until SPA? I'm just curious.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

westv said:

Golactico said:

The McCloud judgement is in and the remedy already established.

Basically, the affected period is the 7 years from April 2015 to April 2022.  When you take your Classic pension, you will have the option as to whether these 7 years are treated as additional years for your Classic pension, or they remain as they currently are, within the Alpha scheme. Calculations will be provided at the time you need to decide as to merits of taking either option. For me, I've done some sums and I already know that I'm best off leaving those 7 years in Alpha. This is usyouually the case for those whose service has been in the lower CS grades (AO/EO).

Any service from April 2022 onwards, will be Alpha for everyone. 

Are  basing your figures on taking Alpha at 60 or waiting until SPA? I'm just curious.

I think for plenty of people taking Alpha at 60 will be better than Classic.

Classic was 1/80ths with Alpha being nearly double that at 1/43rd.

Although for some the lump sum or promotion may be a factor that swings things towards Classic.

drummersdale

There is a “remedy calculator” of sorts on the civil service pensions site although I only stumbled across it by accident - you put your details in and it comes up with numbers that show whether you would be better off with the 7 years in Classic or Alpha - the caveat being it is only a rough estimate - but better than nothing I suppose https://remedy-illustrator-7year.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/

Dazed_and_C0nfused

drummersdale said:

There is a “remedy calculator” of sorts on the civil service pensions site although I only stumbled across it by accident - you put your details in and it comes up with numbers that show whether you would be better off with the 7 years in Classic or Alpha - the caveat being it is only a rough estimate - but better than nothing I suppose https://remedy-illustrator-7year.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/

Pretty sure it isn't designed to do that.

Everyone's circumstances will be slightly different and what is classed as being "better off" for one will differ for others.

Less money at 60 might be one person's idea of being better off.

The next person might want the maximum pension available.

drummersdale

Yes poor choice of words - comparison would have been a better choice and yes my definition of better off could be wildly different to yours. However any information is better than no information at all.

george_jetson

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

westv said:

Golactico said:

The McCloud judgement is in and the remedy already established.

Basically, the affected period is the 7 years from April 2015 to April 2022.  When you take your Classic pension, you will have the option as to whether these 7 years are treated as additional years for your Classic pension, or they remain as they currently are, within the Alpha scheme. Calculations will be provided at the time you need to decide as to merits of taking either option. For me, I've done some sums and I already know that I'm best off leaving those 7 years in Alpha. This is usyouually the case for those whose service has been in the lower CS grades (AO/EO).

Any service from April 2022 onwards, will be Alpha for everyone. 

Are  basing your figures on taking Alpha at 60 or waiting until SPA? I'm just curious.

I think for plenty of people taking Alpha at 60 will be better than Classic.

Classic was 1/80ths with Alpha being nearly double that at 1/43rd.

Although for some the lump sum or promotion may be a factor that swings things towards Classic.

But taking Alpha at 60 will be actuarially reduced. 

I’ve had a play with the calculator and for me it’s finely balanced to say the least. 

I’ll wait until the “official” figures later this year. 

But the decision would be far easier if I knew for certain how long I’ll be drawing my pension for…!