Q. What is the level of my contribution each month?
A. 11% of Pensionable salary
Q. Can I make Additional Voluntary contributions (AVC) to my pension fund?
A. Yes you can choose between a “Free Standing” AVC which you arrange through your own insurance company or financial advisor.
Q. What allowances are pensionable?
A. Pensionable Pay - includes:
Basic Salary (plus any acting or temporary salary)
CRTP
Q. How is my final pension entitlement calculated?
A. The average of your final year’s salary is used to calculate your pension but the best salary from the previous three years applies, so if for any reason you had a higher salary in either of the 2 proceeding years that is the figure that will be used.
A year is calculated from the date of retirement backwards in blocks of 365 days. This figure is called your Average Pensionable Pay (APP). For each year of service up to 20 you are given 1/60 of the APP & 2/60 of APP for each year thereafter up to 30. This is what is known as the double accrual period.
For example if you retired with 30 years service, your pension would be calculated like so:
20 years @ 1/60 per year = 20/60
10 years @ 2/60 per year = 20/60
Total entitlement = 40/60 or 2/3 salary which is maximum.
So for illustrative purposes only if your APP after 30 years service was £36,000. Your entitlement without commutation would be £36,000 x 40/60 or £24,000 p.a. You can commute a maximum of a quarter of your pension as a lump sum. So if you chose to commute the figures would be £24,000 / 4= £6000 which then has to be multiplied by your age factor, which for a male under 51 is 15. So your lump sum would be £6000x 15 or £90,000. Leaving a Residual Pension of ¾ of £24000 or £18,000 p.a
