No it isn't rubbish. You may prefer a different strategy, but that doesn't mean that what I said is rubbish.

I never said that a teacher couldn't have a DC scheme in addition to their DB scheme. Don't put words in my mouth.

It isn't an absurd choice at all as it offers a guaranteed return. You've also completely ignored the fact that I had actually been discussing with the OP the idea of "funding the gap" alongside faster accrual.

Actuarial reduction is not 50%. Check the GAD for actuarial reduction factors. You aren't even close.

Oh, and NPA is 68 for the OP not 67, but then why would you worry about getting that fact correct when you haven't with any of the others?

Please take your straw man with you.

I never said otherwise.

I didn't say that you had.

I was giving an explanation as to one reason why faster accrual was a beneficial option.

You are in good pension schemes. We both have the security of ‘local government’ type pensions, and we are mortgage free.
I will be fully retired by the end of this year, and my wife within four years. Would urge you to become a “mortgage free wannabe”..... there is a forum on the subject. Our retirement savings started racing ahead when the mortgage stopped, and we have had a whale of a time to date.

Seems to me your in a good position, stay sensible.

Right-oh, so the situation we're currently at is as follows:

We're yet to exchange on the house and there's a sizeable building regs sticking point in the way. We have opened one S&S ISA with a meagre monthly direct debit to be reevaluated once we have completed on a house and are in position to plan with more clarity. These are currently invested in Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% while I read and digest online blogs (e.g. Monevator) and the two books I've got hold of on the subject (Smarter Investing by Tim Hale and Ivesting Demystified by Lars Kroijer).

Obviously, the most financially sound investment we could make is to increase our contributions to our DB pension schemes (TPS and NHS) but we could not access these guarantee due returns until NPA; the hefty actuarial reductions make me wince. Whilst the majority of both sets of our relatives have lived into their eighties and nineties, I'm not convinced that we would be fit enough to benefit from enhanced pensions after the age of 68. So the core purpose of our investments is to 'fund the gap' between early retirement and our DB benefits kicking in at NPA (which is currently 68 for us) although we may both have small sums coming in from 65 from a few years of contributions to pre-2015 Final Salary schemes). 60 is a reasonable target for early retirement since, as we were born in the late 1980s, we are planning to expect our NPA to rise to around 70. As such, we need to work out an acceptable balance between buying additional pension through our DB schemes and investing to fund the gap of early retirement.

Now, S&S ISAs may yet form a backbone of our early retirement saving. But SIPPs and LISAs are a more efficient (yet less flexible) way to save for our retire-around-60 goal. For me, it appears as though a SIPP should be the logical wrapper since - unless I achieve secondary school headship - I shouldn't hit LTA. To provide context, the career move I'm hoping to make in the next year to assistant headship typically pays £50-55k pa and an eventual aim to deputy head typically rewards £60-65k pa. As a GP, my wife will earn greater sums than these (once she fully qualifies from March 2018) even working part-time. As such, additional contributions to her DB pension may take her closer to the LTA. This means that we need to consider maxing out her S&S LISA allowance to fund her going earlier than NPA with any excess going into the ISA(s) - as opposed to a SIPP. Are there any spreadsheets around for us to play with?

Also, we do still have short term savings goals. Our cars are both approaching ten years and 100,000 miles - a small SEAT and a smaller Fiat that may not have much longevity. Also, there are homemade improvements to make on the house that we're buying and perhaps most onerously, 'family planning'. We do not wish to buy cars etc 'on finance'. As such, we will be shovelling money into regular savers accounts once we have (re)established our emergency fund of 4 months of outgoings. We will probably also make relatively small overpayments on our mortgage since there aren't no any easy access accounts paying out 2.49+% interest - the rate we hope to pay on our five year fix. We would like to be mortgage-free by 55 yet anticipate one or two (probably two) moves up the ladder to come.

Have we missed anything obvious?

Yes, although I don't usually advocate using lease cars in your wife's case as a GP the salary sacrifice of getting an NHS scheme lease car may be efficient in terms of her not going over the LTA, for her it is probably better to save into wrappers outside of pensions, for you a pension wrapper makes sense.


This strategy would also ensure you have one reliable car at all times, without breaking the bank. One medic I work with has i10 on lease cheap to fuel, and to put his teenagers on the insurance. He's mid fifties and is trying to stay under the LTA. Your wife could also salary sacrifice for childcare vouchers if children are in your plans.


You could build a decent pot up use her savings from stopping work to retirement age, then you both will have decent DB pensions supplemented with your SIPP, as well as decent sum in ISAs.