SARH to go

[Night Watchman]

Crab,

I’m not saying you guys don’t deserve the allowances you get. You work a difficult lifestyle and should quite rightly be compensated for it and certainly your kids schooling shouldn’t suffer because of it.

However, both you and Sven seem to be implying that a RAF pilot is cheaper than a civilian SAR pilot because you are paid less which is clearly not the case.

If we use your and Sven’s figures we accept that and RAF pilot earns between 45k and 65k (although Crab said top sixties we’ll work on the lesser one).

By your own admission you get 30k from the MOD for your kids schooling which takes the cost of an RAF pilot to around 75k-95k. (That schooling allowance would be equivalent to 48k pay increase, before tax, if you had to fund the schooling from your own pocket.)

Now we need to add the cost of a non contributory tax payer funded and guaranteed final salary pension scheme to the cost of an RAF SAR pilot.

I am no expert in pensions so I’ll need your help in working out exactly what your pension pot is worth. So if you could tell me what your pension will be when you retire, at what age you retire and how long you have to serve to get it, we can work out how much it costs to provide you with such a generous pension scheme.

As I said I have no issue with you being paid these allowances and in getting a non contributory pension scheme. I have to fund my own pension from my salary although my employer does contribute around 6.5k a year towards it. Unfortunately I have to suffer the vulgarities of the stock market to determine my final pension

You guys are on a first-rate deal (Good for you!) but let’s not mislead the forum by suggesting that an RAF pilot is cheaper!