Vin Rouge
Your posts on this thread echo my thoughts ref AFPS.
It's possible as a Pilot, to earn large sums outside the mob, that enable you to put a significant amount of money into a workplace pension/SIPP that IMHO can rival the AFPS. I'm not saying AFPS is a bad scheme, but with the current job market It's possible to earn large sums outside the mob.
A "Gash Shag" airline Captain starting salary is circa 125K all in (that's from a good mate - ex Mil aged 40, now decent LoCo Captain who left 3.5 years ago and has just got Captaincy). The Military Flt Lt equivalent will be on less than 80K. He will most likely be a QFI/QWI etc etc etc. An airline equivalent (LTC/TRI/TRE) will be on more than the 125K above. He will also get paid extra for any other additional duties.
Now hypothetically speaking…..
The airline Captain has company pension contributions of 10% (so 12.5K). He chooses to max out his 40K annual allowance and contributes 27.5K (don't forget pension tax relief). His taxable salary is then just under 100K which makes sound financial sense keeping his taxable salary below 100K for income tax purposes. The difference in PAS vs airline salary after contributions is circa 20K - which can be spent as he sees fit.
I've not included contributions as an FO. Equally, I've used 20 years of contributions to keep things simple. Someone leaving age 40 could potentially work for up to 25 years. Again, I've also not included greater contributions (albeit with a tax hit) as a TRI/TRE etc.
20 years of contributions in this example gives an 800K pension pot. This will be in workplace pensions/a SIPP which provides diversification and flexibility that AFPS does not give.
Apologies for a long post. What I was going to ask is does anyone know how to work out how the AFPS contributions made on my behalf compare to my lifetime limit? I just went off on a bit of a tangent....
If anyone sees any flaw's with my calculations... then please shout!
Last edited by Professor Plum; 12th Oct 2019 at 10:51.