The earliest that you can retire is 55 and your deferred benefit would have been calculated at date of leaving pensionable service as follows. For each year that you contributed to CARE, you earned a basic amount of retirement income. This annual sum would have been added to the accumulated income you had built up in previous years.
The retirement income amount earned each year will have been based on your pensionable pay in that year and your build rate. To take account of inflation, your accumulated retirement income is also revalued.
If you contributed for only part of a year, then your basic amount earned in that year and the revaluation will have been adjusted accordingly.
Your deferred pension will then be revalued in line with inflation to your normal retirement date.
Your basis amount
Your basic amount of retirement income earned in a year is based on that year’s pensionable pay. It is calculated as your build rate multiplied by your pensionable pay e.g:
1.25% x £22,500 = £281.25
Your build rate
Your build rate is the percentage used to calculate your basic amount each year. You would have had the opportunity to elect a different build rate with effect from 1 April each year. Each build rate requires a different contribution rate.
Your annual revaluation
Each year on 1 April your accumulated retirement income will be revalued in line with inflation up to a maximum of 2.5% for pensionable service accrued after 1 July 2010. There are some members who joined the CARE Section of the Scheme on or after 1 October 2005 with benefits earned before 1 April 2010 who are not guaranteed an increase.
The information on this page provides you with a summary of the benefits offered by the Scheme.
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At retirement, your accumulated annual retirement income will be paid as a monthly pension, which is taxed. You will have the option to exchange part of it for a tax free cash sum.
From 1 April 2018 the measure for price inflation is the Consumer Prices Index (‘CPI’).