As Courtney noted on another thread, what a great state of affairs when we have to come on here and Egoat for advice because the MOD can't/won't explain pensions.
However, and I swear I don't spend all my time reading pensions and tax bumf, an article in the DT on lifetime allowances got me thinking. After a bit of hunting I stumbled across this from HMRC - technical advice on when the lifetime allowance doesn't apply.
http://http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manual...SM03106050.htm
To save you reading the whole lot, the key bit is as follows
Certain schemes listed in the Registered Pension Schemes (Prescribed Schemes and Occupations) Regulations 2005 give their members a right to take pension and lump sum benefits below the normal minimum pension age. These schemes are
The Armed Forces Pension Scheme
The British Transport Police Force Superannuation Fund,
The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme,
The Firemen’s Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland)
The Gurkha Pension Scheme,
The Police Pension Scheme,
The Police Service of Northern Ireland pension Scheme, and
The Police Service of Northern Ireland Full Time Reserve Pension Scheme.
Where a member of such a scheme takes a pension or lump sum benefits before the normal minimum pension age, there will be no reduction in the individual’s lifetime allowance (see RPSM03106020).
I know I can read, and on a good day, with the wind in the right direction and a suitable amount of caffeine in the system, have moments of lucidity and maybe even occasional flashes of intelligence. To my little brain, the above suggests that AFPS is not subject to the pensions tax lifetime allowance and therefore we might not have as much to worry about as first thought - especially if the govt reduces the allowance even further in the next budget. What have I got wrong or what am I missing???? And if we aren't subject to a life time allowance, does that read across to the annual allowance which seems to be shrinking rapidly by the minute? Or do we fall foul of our pensions being titled as 'early departure payments' until you hit SPA? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.