Civil Service pension: alpha v. partnership & voluntary topup

Universidad

it is all very well planning that, for example, 10 years in Partnership then moving to alpha would be optimal. But in practice you may well move to a private sector employer during those 10 years, and access to a DB pension would vanish. Whereas access to DC pensions are likely to be on offer regardless of employer. The same applies to future policy change - who knows what will happen, but the probability of having access to a DB pension in the future will be lower than having access to a DC pension.

I think this is pretty key. Look at the last 20 years and see how many DB pension schemes the Civil Service has iterated through. How confident are we that the ironically named "Alpha" will also get to be the "Omega" for our retirement plans?

There's a tension between the benefit of getting time in the market if you'll be investing in a DC scheme at some point, and the value of the guaranteed income available in Alpha. 

It might be ideal to do DC first and DB second. But the DB offers security, and the most insecure thing about it, in my view, is how long it will be around in the current form.

Lindlou

DE_612183 said:

What is a pain is that the CSP site does not allow you to use the retirement modeller until you have a benefits statement - which won't come out until about August this year 

Have you checked? Most benefit statements are now available and the modeller has been updated. Could be dependent on where you work of course. 

DE_612183

Lindlou said:

DE_612183 said:

What is a pain is that the CSP site does not allow you to use the retirement modeller until you have a benefits statement - which won't come out until about August this year 

Have you checked? Most benefit statements are now available and the modeller has been updated. Could be dependent on where you work of course. 

Yes - just checked