Armed Forces pension
 

So the government has said that anybody retiring in the next ten years won't be affected by any changes to the public sector pensions. Will this also be the case for the Armed Forces or will we still have the bat inserted up the one way valve?

KF

Apparently it's not a one-way valve these days - all perfectly legal...:ok:

The B Word

:yuk:

If I were a betting man, I'd say no ... someone has to pay for the better terms for the other sectors. If you believe the Telegraph, sometimes a big ask these days, but the numbers they are pushing for teachers' and nurses' pensions show quite significant rises - apparently teachers will now be able to retire on 25K and nurses on almost 23K, rises in both instances from the old schemes, all based on higher employer contributions, a higher accrual rate and later retirement giving longer to build a pot.

Somehow I can't see the AFPRB getting an equivalent deal for the Forces.

Xaffinity shortfall last month
 

Anyone else have around a 5% shortfall on their pension payment last month (not tax related)?

If the BBC politics page for 3 November is correct, it looks like we could all be in for a bigger robbery from our pensions than the RPI/CPI swindle. Essentially it looks as if the esteemed Government is considering squirming out from paying even CPI increases if it can.



"Freezing payments
The Financial Times is reporting that Chancellor George Osborne has asked officials for alternative models, including a rise in line with average earnings growth of about 2.5% or freezing some payments.

It is understood the government will have "resolved" the options by early December when the uprating of benefits is presented to Parliament.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has calculated that the 5.2% September inflation figure will add £1.8bn to welfare spending next year.

It said freezing all benefits and pensions would save about £10bn and linking benefits increases to wage rises would save £5bn.

A further option of switching from the September inflation figure to an average inflation figure calculated over six months could save about £1.4bn, the IFS added.

'Difficult decisions'
During a visit to RAF crews in Lincoln, Mr Clegg said: "I think we all know that we are having to do something extremely difficult.

"But we have been very, very clear, we're not going to balance the books on the backs of the poor. That will remain our guiding principle as we continue to take these difficult decisions in the weeks, months and years to come."

Liam Byrne, shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "Pensioners up and down the country struggling with rising heating bills and worried about the winter ahead will now be worried sick about rumours that the Tory-led Government is about to bin its commitment to triple lock the increase in pensions.

He called for Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to "come clean" about whether the triple lock was government policy now and next year, or another broken promise.

The coalition's so-called "triple lock" policy meant that from April 2011 the basic state pension would rise each year in line with average earnings, prices or 2.5%, whichever was the most.

In 2011, the relevant measure of price inflation was the retail prices index but from next year it will be the consumer prices index."




Has anyone heard what progress has been made in the High Court in the RPI/CPI court case? - it has all gone deathly quiet for over a week!

Isn't the AFPS a public sector pension scheme and therefore the 10 year retirement rule applies?

Yes, the 10-yr rule should apply but the catch is going to be that the AFPS05 retirement age is formally 55 (your actual or planned preserved pension receipt date probably won't be counted) so you will have to be 45 by Apr 12 in order to be elligble for special treatment. Otherwise IMHO you'll be shafted just as bad as the rest.

People aren't staying in as long - the career profile is changing radically, so is that 45/10 figure as relevent to someone in their 20s or 30s as it may have been 25 years ago I wonder? Another complication is AFPS is paid for by general taxation and has to fund the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, which is far more generous than it has been in the past. That particular demand on AFPS coffers is going to soar over the next 30 years and its a hidden cost of the scheme that tends to get forgotten.

You could argue that the need to be pragmatic is stronger than it is with other sectors of the public pension world. The MoD pays 37% or so of officers' salaries and 21% of salaries for ORs into the scheme, rising to (on average) 34% over the next three years. So, does it want people staying in as long as before? Probably not..? Thankfully (for the MoD), most people seem happy to serve fewer and fewer years (hence my first point).

And for those that stayed on AFPS75 is there any difference?

Changes to the Armed Forces Pension Schemes
 

The plan is that in 2015 or 2016 (at the latest) the Armed Forces Pension Schemes will close and all serving personnel will be transferred to a career-average scheme. The Forces Pension Society has not yet seen the framework document for the proposed scheme. When we have seen it, we will be putting it on our website (The Forces Pension Society) and will put something on ARRSE, Rum Ration, E-Goat and this site.

The Forces Pension Society will be working hard to ensure that the Armed Forces get the best possible scheme.

PC,
Not me. Exactly the same for the last 3 months :ok:

Nor me - no change.

I am still on AFPS 75 and hit 50 in May 2016 - got to be my bingo for banging out.

Big rumour, coming from ACOS Manning, is that under the new scheme you'll be out at 55 with your gratuity but not get your pension until 60.

Where's that yellow & black.....

Am I right in thinking that after the age of 50 you can apply to leave with 6 months notice? Almost like a variable option point and not the same as having to PVR? Just seem to remember this being mentioned some time back. If so, and there really is going to be a 5 year wait for your pension, I doubt there would be any old timers left in by the date it kicked off.

Also understand that already accrued pension values would apply up to the date of changeover, so would that also include commencement date?:ugh:

It is the later of age 50 or 30 years service.

So they are going to make you retire at age 55, sure there is something about making you retire at a particular age, and make you wait until you are 60 for your pension? Not good news.

Unless of course you qualify for your pension and have an option point before the new pension scheme comes in. Briefing we had at Shriv was that they can't take anything off you already earned - and that includes an immediate pension. It would be anything earned after the transfer to the new scheme which would be payable at 60 rather than the whole pension.

So if you have an option point 2014/15, I think an awful lot of people will be looking to bank what they have before they find themselves scrabbling round for a job at 55 whilst waiting for the pension to kick in. The cynic in me says any such scheme to stop you taking your pension at 55 whilst leaving you trying to find a job is a deliberate ploy to get people to either PVR or leave at an option point so they don't have to pay redundancy.

So if you were 53 at the change over in 2015 would you get what you had earned up to that point at age 55 with the rest coming to you at age 60?

K_F

That has always been the stance with regard to any terms and conditions. What is already banked will be delivered on time; it is the serviceman of the future that will have a different career to today, those mid-career will have a slightly modified one and those in their latter years will not give a toss.

Of course the gloves are off when viewed from the perspective of a bankrupt government, but the so is immunity from anarchy. ....and I fear that within the civpop the touchpaper awaits.