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Old 9th Dec 2010, 15:41
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Al R
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: @exRAF_Al
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PN,

'05 is calculated over the best 365 day period on the trot. Although, usually, it will mean the final 365 days, you can dredge backwards (useful if you were paid 'acting up' or getting Sub pay). '75 of course, demands you hold the rank for 2 years solid. Also, oft overlooked is the importance of the Pension Input Period which determines how much you can put in, in any one 12 month period. The pension input period is going to be useful for anyone who wishes to defer forward any previous unused Annual personal Alllowance over the 50k ceiling being imposed next April.

One thing that I was guilty of, is that I paid too much specific attention gets paid to the finer details of AFPS, and not enough to the broader picture in general. FPS can offer en masse information to any number of individuals about the potential benefits to committing to a particular course of action, and thats great. But what it can't do, is advise whether that intended course of action is the best for you in the wider sense, or if its going to be beneficial to the life that you intend to lead when you leave the Service. What FPS cannot do is discuss those options with you, in detail, and more importantly, how they relate to your unique circumstances and those of your family.

I could now think of any number of arguements relating to both sides of a case supporting any kind of action.. after all, what is perfect for one person could be horrendous for the next. There is little point in being insightful up to the eyeballs about AFPS if you haven't covered all the other bases and considered some kind of macroperspective, or extracted back from where you want to be, in 'x' years, to where you're at now. I am also a member of FPS, and I think its a good organisation but the world of financial planning does not stop with insight into AFPS. By all means know it inside out, although knowledge about AFPS in itself is not the B All and End All. Sure, its the first stop on the journey because its the biggest component in your retirement armoury, but its not everything.

Finally, and on that note, 120 at Kinloss has arranged for me to deliver a number of Financial Awareness briefings next week, and I am also at Odiham for a few days in January. On behalf of the FSA then, let me allow this quick plug for the events, and to encourage anyone with nothing else better to do, to come along and listen to me bang my gums for an hour or so.
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