Has anyone every stopped themselves topping or buying more in DB Pensions...

IAMIAM

Like NHS/Civil/TPS etc as ultimately the pension dies with you......and you cannot transfer out either....

Dazed_and_C0nfused

IAMIAM said:

Like NHS/Civil/TPS etc as ultimately the pension dies with you......and you cannot transfer out either....

Plenty don't die with you though, they end when the surviving spouse dies.

IAMIAM

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

IAMIAM said:

Like NHS/Civil/TPS etc as ultimately the pension dies with you......and you cannot transfer out either....

Plenty don't die with you though, they end when the surviving spouse dies.

If no spouse or just kids

Linton

Surely people are more concerned about what income they receive when alive than what is left after they and their spouse die.  DB pensions and annuities maximise what you can sustainably get when alive. Most people are not in the position to reverse the priorities.

Pat38493

Linton said:

Surely people are more concerned about what income they receive when alive than what is left after they and their spouse die.  DB pensions and annuities maximise what you can sustainably get when alive. Most people are not in the position to reverse the priorities.

From what I understood, at least until recently if not still, it’s questionable whether buying an annuity will “maximise what you can sustainable get when alive”.  Weren’t annuity rates paying out lower than even pessimistic SWR predictions a while back?  I guess if you mean “guarantee to sustainably….” Then for sure.

hyubh

IAMIAM said:

Like NHS/Civil/TPS etc as ultimately the pension dies with you......and you cannot transfer out either....

Appreciate this answer is possibly doubly irrelevant, but... in an LGPS context, a twin desire to earn more pension and improve survivor benefits at the same time would point towards opening an AVC (= linked DC) rather than taking out an APC (= additional DB benefit directly). With an LGPS AVC, you can purchase an APC on retiring that includes survivor benefits, whereas a regular APC taken out while an active member does not include them.

Marcon

hyubh said:

IAMIAM said:

Like NHS/Civil/TPS etc as ultimately the pension dies with you......and you cannot transfer out either....

Appreciate this answer is possibly doubly irrelevant, but... in an LGPS context, a twin desire to earn more pension and improve survivor benefits at the same time would point towards opening an AVC (= linked DC) rather than taking out an APC (= additional DB benefit directly). With an LGPS AVC, you can purchase an APC on retiring that includes survivor benefits, whereas a regular APC taken out while an active member does not include them.

....and for completeness, you can of course transfer out of the LGPS...

hyubh

Marcon said:

hyubh said:

IAMIAM said:

Like NHS/Civil/TPS etc as ultimately the pension dies with you......and you cannot transfer out either....

Appreciate this answer is possibly doubly irrelevant, but... in an LGPS context, a twin desire to earn more pension and improve survivor benefits at the same time would point towards opening an AVC (= linked DC) rather than taking out an APC (= additional DB benefit directly). With an LGPS AVC, you can purchase an APC on retiring that includes survivor benefits, whereas a regular APC taken out while an active member does not include them.

....and for completeness, you can of course transfer out of the LGPS...

Indeed, that was one part of the possible double irrelevance. OP's subject line did just refer to DB pensions in general though, so I'm going with that 

Bravepants

One similar question I'm battling with at the moment in my final year of employment is:

"Should I buy Added Pension upto my annual pension input allowance (£60k's worth), or hold back a bigger cash sum?"

I intend to take the DB pension actuarially reduced.

daveyjp

The OPs post appears to misunderstand what a pension is for - to provide an income to the individual from retirement until they depart this mortal coil, not to leave a legacy. This is not uncommon on this board.

If you want to leave money for others your pension is not the way to do it.  It has the potential to lead to absolute misery in retirement as you become afraid of spending what you see as other people's money.

Anyone in a DB pension scheme has options over 40-50 years of employment to invest in a way which can provide a legacy,  The most common being property, but standalone SIPPS, ISAs, AVCs are all options.

Andy_L

Plenty (the majority?) of people in a DB pension don't top up/buy more pension

Some Reasons:
1. The baseline accumulation is "enough"
2. They would rather have the money now rather than in the future
3. The offer isn't very good
4. The scheme doesn't have the option/they don't meet the criteria to buy more