Ah, 83 is a fine vintage.
There will be on JPA, I have been told by people, but my knowledge of it isn't good enough to direct you how to do that - sorry.
Introduction to the pension calculator
Have you spent a couple of minutes doing that /\ ? Priceless. Assuming that most readers will be relying on AFPS to form the lion's share of their retirement / post service income, until you know what you're going to get and until you know what you want retirement to 'look' like for you, you don't know if you have to step on the gas, financially, or if you can ease off a little and diversify.
I am an IFA now (I specialise with private military clients because I know the mentality, the career path, the mentality, the mil friendly product providers, the lingo, AFPS etc) and a private client stockbroker, and I have no need to tout for business on the interweb. But let me tell one and all about this Programme which has the full support of the MoD at Main Building and a dedicated RAF point of contact (SL).
CFEB | Workplace Tools for employers
'CFEB', until a few months ago, was part of the FSA - but it got 'rationalised' and is now an offshoot. I was the first IFA in the country to be invited by the FSA, The Pensions Advisory Service and the National Assoc of Pension Funds (a real fun bunch of folk) to deliver impartial community talks about personal financial planning in the wake of the Credit Crunch. The talks are designed to clarify questions about savings, investments, retirement and insurance for yourself and for your families. Most are delivered to professionals who simply don't have the time to do it themselves.
I deliver presentations to (for instance) Honda UK, BAe, NHS, MoD, Dept of Work and Pensions, John Lewis, local Councils etc.. all bodies that want their employees to be financially more insightful and empowered. I do many talks to RAF recruits, cadets, officers and SNCOs and the talks are NOT sales talks - I am not alllowed, nor would I undermine the credibility of, the sessions or myself, by touting for business. I don't
do big tie knots.
I do them because if I do have to be on the Authority radar, I'd rather it be for the right reasons and on my terms, because its a great programme and it because it empowers people and lets them see that they can start saving for their futures by doing more than just sticking tens of thousands into a paltry cash ISA. And also because
I would have benefited if someone had offered me an hour's impartial chat into how savings, investments and pensions work, and what I should be looking for and what is needed from me to get where I want to be. A personal financial plan should be like a Battlegroup - too many Stackers and not enough enemy get killed, too many Inf and not enough Stackers and not enough munitions gets to the front. All things in moderation and the right tools for the job - are there
are thousands of tools out there. But most people only know a tiny fraction of whats available.
This CFEB presentation is not that thinly disguised seedy sales pitch that you might get on resettlement, and although I sometimes have to bite my lip, when I have my impartial FSA 'hat' on, I am even occasionally nice to the Banks. The feedback is almost universally supportive - for many RAF pers, who are metaphorically and sometimes literally, isolated from High Streets and normality (for months at a time), financial planning never gets addressed until the final year's service or so. I don't arrange them - all I do is get tasked (I tend to pick up most of the MoD requests for presentations) and if they are held in a Mess one evening, all I ask for is a bit of tucker. If anyone wants more info, or if there any CMCs/PMCs who would like to arrange a presentation, please feel free to ask publically or via pm.