Sven, (cheque's in the post chum, although in respect of profit, the value these days of investments can even occasionally go up as well as down!) - hope you are well and things are evolving nicely for you. I’m still waiting for Greece to default once and for all so I can pick up a beach pad in Protaras for peanuts when certain Cypriot banks implode. You on LinkedIn? In fact, is there anyone on it who would like to exchange details?
Back on topic, if you’ve been commissioned from the ranks, your net accrual and personal pension statement relate to you, not the bloke next to you in the crewroom who might not have been. Reckonable service for AFPS does not begin until 21 for officers and 18 for ORs, regardless of when you join up. So, accrual of a full service pension at age 55 takes 34 years for officers and 37 years for ORs.
Accrual is uneven over a career with higher accrual at the outset, up to IPP. Pension and terminal grant accrue separately - if they accrued together producing a higher base level of pension, (with no terminal grant payable unless the member commutes part of his pension), widow/civil partners’ pensions might rise as they are normally set at half the scheme member’s pension entitlement. There is room, under HMRC limits, for a general increase in AFPS benefits.
Pensions benefits for the scheme member account for 62.5% of pay and half that figure for the widow etc. The Inland Revenue limit is up to 2/3 pay for the scheme member, and up to 4/9 pay for the surviving widow/civil partner/dependent. There would, therefore, be flex within the usual rules governing pensions schemes to increase the level of benefits, although the benefits and affordability of an increase of this sort would be pretty well impossible in today’s economic climate.
In respect of PA spine etc, the fact that flying pay is not pensionable is a bugbear because it is seen as a consistent part of overall remuneration and consequently, a ‘career’ flier’s pension on retirement may be a much lower proportion of final earnings than that of someone within PA spine. However, all Specialist Pay is currently set at a level which take account of its non-pensionable status anyway.
Go here for a more accurate (mostly!) prediction www.mod-abc.co.uk , but as a quick fag packet calculation (05);
If you were in for 25 years and your final salary was £40,000 your annual pension would be:
£40,000 × 25 × 1/70 = £14,278
If you were in for 10 years and your final salary was £25,000 your annual pension would be:
£25,000 × 10 × 1/70 = £3,571
edit: I saw a client last night who may well be reading this, and I was told of a flightdeck rumour that promotion from here on in would be dependent on transferring from 75 to 05. Any truth in that rumour?!
Last edited by Al R; 1st Oct 2011 at 18:09.