Answer:

That depends on which scheme your benefits are in.

The NPA for members in the career average scheme is either your State Pension age or 65, whichever is the later date.

If you've benefits in the final salary scheme then the NPA is 60 or 65 depending on when you entered pensionable service.

If you were in service before 1 January 2007 your final salary NPA is 60 provided you haven't:

• transferred the service out of the Scheme; or


• had a break where you were out of service for more than five years ending after 31 December 2007.

If you entered pensionable service on or after 1 January 2007 or after a break, your final salary NPA will be 65.

If you've benefits in more than one scheme, you'll have more than one NPA.

If you've benefits in both the final salary and career average, your final salary benefits are protected and will remain in final salary. When you retire we'll use your salaries earned in career average to calculate your final salary benefits. This is called the final salary link. If you've a break in pensionable service of more than five years ending after 1 April 2015, the salary link is broken and we'll use the salaries notified to us at the time of the break to calculate your final salary benefits.

Answer:

The [final] average salary is the salary we use when calculating final salary benefits when you retire. There are two different methods for calculating the average salary and we'll use the method that provides you with the most beneficial result. The two methods used are:

• The salaries for the last ten pensionable years are increased at each salary change to current day value in line with inflation. The average of the best consecutive three years re-valued salaries in those ten years will be used;


• The pensionable salary received in the last 12 months of employment before the date of retirement. But if you've no pensionable service on or after 1 January 2007, your average salary will be the best 365 days in the last 1095 days before you left service.

If you've moved from the final salary to career average then, as long as you've not had a single break of more than five years, you have Salary Link. This means that when you retire the salaries you've earned during your career average service will be used when determining the best average salary for your final salary benefits. But if you've had a single break in service after 1 April 2015 of more than five years, then only the salaries in your career average service up to the start of that break will be used.

Answer:

Mixed service is where you have service in more than one section of the Teachers' Pension Scheme. The different sections are:

• Final salary scheme (80th)


• Final salary scheme (60th)


• Career average scheme

If you became a member of the Teachers' Pension Scheme after 1 January 2007 you'll have a Normal Pension Age (NPA) of 65 for your final salary benefits.

If you became a member before 1 January 2007 your Normal Pension Age for any final salary benefits will be 60, provided you haven't had a break in service of more than five years.

If you were a final salary member with a Normal Pension Age (NPA) of 60 and have had a break in service lasting more than five years which ends after 31 December 2007, then your service prior to the break will still have a NPA of 60. However, if you return after 31 December 2007 (but prior to 1 April 2015) any final salary service will have a NPA of 65. This is known as a 'disqualifying break'. If the disqualifying break spans 1 April 2015 you'll have entered the career average scheme, where the NPA is either 65 or your State Pension age, whichever is the higher.

If you've career average benefits your NPA for these will be 65 or your State Pension age whichever is the later date.

Answer:

When members take their pension before their Normal Pension Age for the payment of their benefits, pension schemes reduce the amount of the pension to take into account that it'll be paid out for a longer period of time. This is known as actuarial reduction. The career average scheme offers a standard rate of actuarial reduction, between the ages of 65 to 68, of 3%. However, you can choose to Buy Out this standard rate and retire at age 65 without any reduction if you're retiring early. The Buy Out is purchased through regular monthly contributions throughout your career. You only have one opportunity to 'Buy Out' the reduction and this must be done within six months of you first entering the career average scheme. You must be in pensionable service (actively paying into the Scheme) in order to make an election. More details can be found in our Buy Out Factsheet.

Answer:

As the government's remedy to the discrimination came into place on 1 October 2023, it's important to note that all protections applied were found to be discriminatory and have been removed. A tapered entry into the career average scheme is no longer available, and members cannot continue receiving benefits based on tapered service, which is a mix of final salary and career average benefits for your remedy period service. The benefits you currently receive for the remedy period will need to change.

The Remediable Service Statement (RSS) you receive will show many of the same elements as the main retirements RSS, however, there will be some differences. The main difference for tapered members is that your options won't include a detailed breakdown of your current pension benefits, though we'll provide a summary of these to you as part of the statement for information purposes.

When you review your RSS:

• Option 1 will show all your remedy period service calculated as final salary scheme service, and


• Option 2 will show all your remedy period service calculated as career average service.

Your RSS will provide information to allow you to choose to take all service in the remedy period as either final salary or career average and a breakdown of the benefits you'll receive under each option will be provided to help you make an informed decision. Any over/underpayments resulting from these calculations will be displayed in the 'Total Adjustment' table included in the RSS.

You'll be presented with an immediate choice to either take your remedy period benefits under final salary or career average and the choice you make regarding these benefits will be irrevocable.

Answer:

You'll need to complete the relevant retirement form.

The application form should be submitted to us at least three months before your normal retirement date (Normal Pension Age (NPA)). If you apply after you reach your NPA, your benefits will be based on the calculation due at your NPA, not one at a later date. You'll receive any pension arrears that are due as a lump sum and that will be subject to tax.

If you have benefits accrued in both final salary and career average, you can take your final salary benefits when you reach your Normal Pension Age. You can choose to take your career average benefits at the same time but they'll be reduced for your lifetime. Alternatively, you can leave them until you reach your NPA for those benefits, when they'll be paid in full.

If you were in service on or after 29 March 2000 you can take Actuarially Adjusted Benefits after age 55. Your benefits will be reduced for your life and while you can choose your payment date, it can't be until at least six weeks after you sign the application form.

If you have benefit accrued in both the final salary and career average schemes you must take all your benefits at the same time if taking Actuarially Adjusted Benefits.

Answer:

Transitional Protection allowed members, who were within ten years of their normal retirement age, to remain in their final salary schemes, while other members moved to the new career average schemes in, or after, 2015.

Answer:

The DCU will offer a choice of having the benefits accrued in the remedy period paid on either a career average or final salary scheme basis during the remedy period. The final salary element will be based on the section of the final salary scheme that you did accrue benefits in (protected / tapered protection members) or would have if you hadn't been moved to the career average scheme (transition / tapered protection members).

Answer:

If you work part-time, you're treated in the same way as a full-time member.

All your periods of service, both full and part-time, are added together when calculating if you have qualified for benefits. In career average your benefits are based on 1/57th of your earnings, the same as full-time members.

If you die in service while in the career average scheme a death grant of three times your annual rate of pensionable earnings (if you were employed full-time) is payable at the time of your death (the same as a full-time member).

If you had past service in the final salary scheme, this was calculated using your full-time equivalent salary rates and not your part-time salary.

Answer:

Yes, you can continue to work past your Normal Pension Age and accrue benefits up to age 75.

Members who have reached 45 years of reckonable service in the final salary scheme were previously exempt from making pension contributions. From 1 April 2022 you'll have been able pay contributions under the career average scheme as you'll be building up new pension benefits in this scheme.

If you haven't been paying contributions since joining the career average scheme please contact your employer, unless, of course, you have opted-out of the scheme.