Well my increase was 4.2% but then an element was not increased as the increase in that element was paid on the GMP element of my state pension.

P6, I take it you commuted your pension and have yet to reach 55? Thats when you start getting the rises.

If, however, you have reached 55, ring paymaster and ask whats up as you should be getting annual increases.

For those in the Commonwealth countries, I have asked about the index-linking on reaching the normal age for receipt of the state pension.

As far as I can see our service pensions index-linked increases should not be abated by GMP post age 65 as our state pensions are frozen as soon as we claim them.

If anyone has already asked that questions a precedent would be nice to know about, otherwise I will let you know what they come back with.

Swindled...Yet Again!
 

I've just received my Advice of Payment from Xafinity. The 5.2% headline rate has turned into 3.47% for me, because, apparently, I retired after 27 April 2011. So... I lose nearly £2000 every year to the treasury because I foolishly got divorced. And now I lose another 1.73% each and every year because of another clever bit of manipulative legislation that is, yet again, only beneficial to the treasury. I served my country faithfully for more than 40 years and I seem to continually be kicked in the teeth by an ungrateful set of legislation! Hmmm..perhaps I'm being naive when I believe the hype from our Lords and masters when they say they have our best interests at heart. Wish I'd worked for Barclays now, at least with them the possibility of a decent pay packet isn't dependant upon performance (or loyalty) there!

Its all relative and there is more to retirement life than AFPS.

The 15 year Gilt yield rate has risen 15% since December, meaning Drawdown or Annuity rates have gone back up. That only helps those with a personal pension mind - sorry. In real world terms (although it now costs more for the g'ment to borrow), a saver* holding back £1000 from a 200k personal pension fund from December and acting now instead of last year will reap an extra £900 a year.

If you're on the verge of annuitising a personal pension or thinking about drawdown, consider dripfeeding the drawdown or only taking an annuity on a portion of it. If you're already in drawdown and move new money into it, the revised annuity rates should apply to the entire amount. Check your scheme rules. Given the Iberian peninsula uncertainty right now, will that situation last? Mmmm.

* Working on the assumption of a 65 year old bloke and various other odds and ends.

Received my advice today; 5.2% increase - thank you very much :ok:

Close - I didn't commute and am a few months short of 55.

GMP
 

There is a leaflet on GMP and National Insurance Modification on the Forces Pension Society website - Forces Pension Society - Fighting for the Forces and their Families

proportionate pension increases
 

This exchange has been going on on the ARRSE forum too. I posted the following to give people an idea of how pension increases are staged in the first year:


"I am afraid this site will not let me cut and paste the table but, for last year, with a CPI of 3.1%, the table looked like this:

Leaving date CPI % uplift
1-25 Apr 3.1
26 Apr-25 May 2.84
26 Apr-25 Jun 2.58
26 Jun-25 Jul 2.33
26 Jul-25 Aug 2.07
26 Aug-25 Sep 1.81
26 Sep-25 Oct 1.55
26 Oct-25 Nov 1.29
26 Nov-25 Dec 1.03
26 Dec-25 Jan .78
26 Jan-25 Feb .58
26 Feb-25 Mar .26
26 Mar-31 Mar NIL

It demonstrates what I was saying and if I can get hold of this year's list I will post it on this site."

Most people get no choice about when their last day of service is but, for the few who do, early in the tax year is best.

Voxpop,

Its probably me but I can't find the leaflets. Any chance of a link to the items rather than your link to the website?

See your PM.

I have just been on to our site and confirm that it is in the Members' Area rather than the public area. Sorry for the bum steer.

???? Do I need to speak to someone? I am due out 23 Jun 14, from those numbers I seem to proff but I don't know what I've proffed! Help!!

SL (pension numpty)

You and me both; you would think that the resettlement process would include a one to one individual specific pensions brief from someone in the know.

TM,

It might be cold comfort now, but the Forces Pension Society is well worth a few quid of anyone's money each year (no, I'm not on a retainer!).

FPS does get involved with resettlement I think, and offers a generic presentation although F-AFPS is going to see a higher level of involvement with 'stakeholders' about what AFPS will bring for members in the future at a far earlier stage of the careeer cycle. At present, there is still quite a high degree of disengagement because thats the nature of the beast - at 20 in the military, who thinks about retirement? I didn't!

Individuals with a relatively short earnings time-span and in such an all consuming military career need to focus all of their energy on excelling at it, because they want to stay alive. The general day to day management of finances becomes a secondary concern and when this happens, in my experience, servicemen sometimes find themselves in situations that could affect opportunities to either save or secure a post career retirement.

FPS do give a generic presentation and I am a member of said Society and nearer the time will be in touch.....that aside Al R, please could you answer the original question (this is with no sarcasm as I note your posts are always correct and you genuinely aim to help). Thank you.

SL

SL,

It's not rocket science (actually rocket science is pretty straightforward!)....

Let's take an analogy you will be familiar with. In your last year in the military you won't get the full leave entitlement (38 days), but a proportion thereof. In your case, leaving in Jun 2014, for the period Apr-Jun 2014 you will probably get (without knowing exactly when in June you will leave) about 30% of this figure, some 12 days annual leave.

Your FIRST, and only your FIRST, pension increase works this way. In Apr 15 you will receive a proportion of the annual rise in pension, directly related to the proportion of the year you have received that pension. So, in your case, in your FIRST year, i.e Apr 15, you will receive about 83% of the total pension increase (which will be the CPI figure for Sep 14). So if the CPI is say 2.5%, you will recieve about a 2.1% increase. In all subsequent years you will receive the FULL increase, i.e. the Sept CPI figure for the preceeding year.

I hope that makes sense - it does to me, but then I wrote it!! :ok:





Yes - leave just after Apr and you get a bigger rise in your pension the following year, but for every month you stay in past Apr you are probably earning at least twice what you would draw in terms of your pension if you were out......

Sloppy,

No snags; no sarcasm detected and I'm sure none would have been intended.

I wasn't too sure what your original question was, sorry. Biggus may well have answered your query - if I can help you at all, and not wanting to engage in guerilla marketing, pm me or e-mail me at work - you'll see my contact details on the bottom half of page 29 of the latest issue of Pennant (which may have thumped onto your doormat today!).

Biggus,
TQ, I understand now......and, strangely, I understand rocket science also.

Al R,
Gotcha if your logo involves a Typhoon (ugh!)

:) SL

Application of GMP in Commonwealth Countries
 

Word from Xaffinity in the mail is that, in countries where the State Pension is frozen, Xaffinity don't make any GMP adjustments to the Service Pension so you get the full inflation increase.

For members of the Forces Pension Society, go on to our website and look at leaflet 01 which will explain all adjustments at State Pension Age. Forces Pension Society - Fighting for the Forces and their Families