1 reply to this topic

[Lord Vader]

The police pension scheme is one of the few "final salary" schemes still to be found. What's so great about final salary schemes? The amount you get is a percentage of the salary you retire on (or actually an average of the last few years salary). So you're not relying on the ups and downs of the stock market which is how most pensions work these days.

It is important that you understand that this is not a definitive overview of the scheme, just a review of some of the main features as they stand at the moment. If you are considering joining any pension scheme you may wish to speak to an independent financial adviser first, to make sure that the scheme suits you.

From April 2006 all new recruits joining the police service join the New Police Pension Scheme (NPPS).

The key points of the NPPS are as follows:

• The minimum possible pension age (age at which you can retire) is 55
  
• If you leave the police service before then, or opt out of the pension, the earliest you can claim it is at age 65
  
• The maximum pension accrual period is 35 years
  
• Your monthly contributions are 9.5% of your gross salary (i.e. your pay before tax, etc. is taken away)
  
• Your pension is accumulated at 1/70th of final salary for each year of service
  
• The full pension is half of your final final salary plus a fixed lump sum of four times the pension
  
• You can opt to exchange some or all of the lump sump for an increased pension
  
• Your final salary is based on your highest pensionable pay up to 10 years before retirement

If you have been working and paying into a private pension scheme for a while, the good news is that you can transfer those payments over into the police scheme and "buy" years, months and days in the scheme.

In summary then - if you work for 35 years, on retirement you'll receive an annual pension worth 50% of the highest salary you earned during your last 10 years of service, plus a lump sum of 4 x the pension.

The Home Office has lots more detail about the NPPS here on their website.

[Bisonex]

I retired last year, at age 50, after 30-years and on full pension. I realise how lucky I was to have been able to have done that when compared to what the new scheme offers, and even that is good by modern standards. I fear for my kids who will probably have to work until they drop unless things really pick up.

My early pension enabled me to emigrate and start a whole new career in a new country, all the time underpinned by the police pension so that, if things don't work out here for some reason, I am not left destitute. And having lived away from the UK and seen a better standard of living and quality of life, there is no way I would willingly return to Blighty. I live in deep country, ten minutes from a lovely, deserted beach, yet it takes me less than 20 minutes to drive to from my home to my office, which is right in the centre of the city, passing sea views, wild deer and even the off golden eagle on the way. Even though I am fairly well paid, I doubt any of this would have been possible without my police pension.

Bisonex