The Civil Service pension arrangements give you opportunities to take control of your retirement planning and build up additional retirement income.
This guide uses as little jargon as possible but where it has to use specific technical terms, they have been explained in plain English.
This is a guide to the alpha pension scheme. It does not cover every aspect of alpha; full details are set out in the regulations, which are the legal basis of the scheme. You can see a copy of The Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pensions Regulations 2014 on the Civil Service Pensions website.
Nothing in this guide can override the alpha regulations. Every effort has been made to make this guide as accurate as possible, but in the event of any difference, the regulations will apply. This guide is based on the regulations current at the time of publication and there is no guarantee that any part of the regulations will not change in the future. You should be aware that tax rates and limits are subject to change.
You should not take anything in this section as financial advice. You might want to consider contacting an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) to discuss your retirement planning. You can find tips on finding an IFA by visiting the Financial Conduct Authority website: www.fca.org.uk
alpha is a registered scheme under the Finance Act 2004, and is governed by UK legislation.
This section explains:
01A. An overview of alpha - A brief guide to what alpha offers its members.
01B. Building up your benefits - A guide to how alpha pensions build up.
01C. Transferring into alpha - A guide to transferring other pensions into the alpha pension scheme.
01D. Your other options - A guide to the other options available, if alpha is not for you.
Section 01A
The alpha pension scheme is part of the Civil Service pension arrangements. Most new entrants who join after 01 April 2015 will be eligible for membership of alpha.
Section 01B
alpha is a Career Average pension scheme. This means you build up alpha pension based on a percentage of how much you earn each scheme year. A scheme year runs from 01 April to 31 March.
Section 01C
A transfer is the movement of an individual’s pension rights from one scheme to another. The transferred funds become subject to the rules of the receiving pension scheme and that scheme then becomes responsible for paying the member’s benefits.