As a CS I'd just like to say re: pensions

The final salary scheme closed about a decade ago.

It's now a career average scheme.

Two important points to note (that get skimmed over) with the new scheme (and the old scheme) - neither have a 'pot' that you could leave to dependents (there's a much reduced 'death in service' payout).

The career Ave pension pays out at state pension age (which for me will be 68).

If I work to 68 I'll get a decent pension, for which I'll have paid in for 46 years. Otherwise it'll hardly be stunning.

I work in a profit making part of the CS, and could earn double my salary in the private sector. I stayed as it's allowed me to develop my career in a number of ways that working in private practice wouldn't have been of a size to allow me to branch out.

Anyone staying in the CS for the pension would be mad - particularly if the state pension age gets lifted further.

(that's your answer tbh - should it prove to be actually unaffordable then they have a route to mitigate it - as it is, the scheme has turned out to cost less than expected - what with lifespans not increasing as expected and civil service pay freezes meaning my salary hasn't kept pace with inflation even slightly for around 15 years).

Posted By: Cardiff Canary, Jun 28, 17:22:36