alpha scheme guide

This is your guide to the benefits you may be entitled to as a member of the alpha pension scheme.

The Civil Service pension arrangements give you opportunities to take control of your retirement planning and build up additional retirement income.

Planning for your retirement is important.

As an active member of alpha you build up a pension based on your pensionable earnings each scheme year.

Pension scheme membership usually spans many years, and from time to time your personal circumstances can change.

These changes could be anything from having a baby, to getting divorced, or having a break from employment and it is important to think about the impact these life events can have on your pension benefits.

Not everybody stays in the pension scheme until they retire. When you leave, the benefits you have built up will depend on how much qualifying service you have in the alpha pension scheme, including service relating to a transfer in from another scheme.

In this section you will find an outline of various ways you can access your pension benefits at full retirement, partial retirement or due to ill-health.

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 section outlines the main benefits that will be available to your dependants and other people you have nominated when you die.

It outlines the pensions and lump sum payments that can be made, and what you need to do.

This section outlines some important things you need to know about your pension.

It includes a brief overview of the main tax rules that apply to pensions and explains how you might be affected by them.