Welcome to the second week of our Pension Awareness Month event! This week, we're delving deep into the essential steps to ensure your retirement goals are not just dreams but achievable realities. If you're not feeling entirely confident about your retirement plans, you're in the right place.
You know what they say, "A goal without a plan is just a wish!" To kick off your journey towards a successful retirement, crafting a solid plan is your first step. By now, if you followed our advice in Week One, you've got a glimpse of your ideal retirement. Now, let's roll up our sleeves and dig into the nitty-gritty of how to finance that dream.
Let's dive in!
Did you know there are a whopping 1.6 billion lost workplace pension pots out there? If you suspect you have a pension from a previous job outside the Civil Service, the Government's Pension Pension Tracing service to find contact details to search for a lost pension.
The new full state pension is £203.85 per week, for 2023/24. Check what your state pension is estimated to be by visiting the gov.uk website:
Thinking of adjusting your work schedule? The impact on your pension varies based on your scheme. Explore our guide for insights into part-time, term-time, seasonal working, career breaks, special leave, maternity/paternity and more.
Change in working patterns guide
Going through a separation? Find out more about how these events could affect your Civil Service pension and how orders like Pension Sharing, Attachment, or Earmarking Orders play a role.
When health forces early departure from work, you might qualify for ill health retirement. Read more about your pension scheme’s ill health retirement criteria in our member guide
You may be entitled to compensation if you leave service under a voluntary or compulsory redundancy scheme. The Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) sets out the level of compensation that Civil Service Departments can pay their staff.
Did you know that you can take some or all your pension and tax-free lump sum and continue working?
This means you can reduce your working hours or pay and have a combination of pay and pension until you fully retire. During this period, you can also build up more pension that will be paid when you fully retire. To see if partial retirement is right for you, read our Guide to Partial Retirement or watch our video.
The Civil Service Pensions Podcast will help you get to grips with your pension and make more informed choices about your financial future, whatever stage of life you're at.
While a sombre topic, knowing how your pension benefits will help your loved ones after you die is vital. Here's a guide to the benefits available.
Your spouse or civil partner may get a pension when you die. The amount that they may be entitled to will depend upon:
There may be a pension for children under 18 (17 if you're in classic) or 23 if they're in full-time education or vocational training. Children with a disability whose health will prevent them from working may be able to receive the pension for life.
How much pension each child gets will depend on:
A Civil Service pension allows you to nominate a beneficiary (including charities) to receive a tax-free lump sum in the event of your death. The amount that you can leave, and the number of beneficiaries depend upon the pension scheme that you are in.
If you are in a long term, committed relationship, your partner may receive benefits if you die. Declared partners may get a pension just like a spouse or civil partner. To declare your partner to us, all you need to do is complete the Partner Declaration form.
Don’t forget to tell us if your partner’s details change.
In this hour-long On Your Journey session, our experts covered the following topics: