What is taking control of my retirement planning? Building up your benefits - Section 02A
What is taking control of my retirement planning? Building up your benefits - Section 02A
This is the set of decisions you can make regarding your pension. It covers things like:
if and when you would like to claim it
how much you can choose to pay to control how much you get
the options the scheme offers to buy additional pension or change the date your pension can be paid
taking your pension before or after your Normal Pension Age (NPA).
How can I take control?
You can choose when you want to claim your benefits. You can claim them before, at or after your alpha NPA. The date you claim your pension will affect the amount of pension that you will get in two ways:
The longer you stay in service and as a member of the scheme, the more alpha pension you will build up.
Your pension can be reduced if you claim it before your NPA, or it can be increased if you claim it later than your NPA.
In summary, the longer you work the more pension you will build up, and the later you retire the higher your pension will be.
How do I know how much pension I will get?
You will get a benefit statement each year that will show you how much pension you have built up. There are various tools available on the Civil Service Pensions website that you can use to estimate how much pension you may get at the time you want to claim it.
I know when I want to claim my benefits and have an idea of how much pension I will have built up. Can I do anything to change the amount of pension I will get?
You can increase the pension you can get by paying more to buy:
added pension. This is available to all active members, and there are no age limits
an EPA portion of your alpha pension that can be paid in full before your NPA. An EPA portion of your pension builds up at the same rate as your main alpha pension, and can be paid in full before your alpha NPA. You must be under your alpha NPA to start buying an EPA.
