ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE

ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!

Understanding pension at age 60

Royal Mail pension news and discussion.Please note the advise given in this forum is unofficial, please use the links we have for a more detailed response or see an independent financial adviser.
Wat69
Posts: 66
Joined: 12 Dec 2018, 15:34
Gender: Male

Understanding pension at age 60

Post by Wat69 »

Section C Member - 37 years service - ideally want to go at age 60 in 2 years time

I have hopefully pieced together my pension figures from my 2 most recent pension statements based on the formula previously provided by Robert T but now need some more help

Age 60
£11541 per annum
£45,000 currently in AVC
£11541 x 20 = £230,820 so maximum tax free lump sum will be £57,705 (partially funded by my £45,000 in AVC and the other £12,705 will be funded by giving up some of my yearly pension, I am not sure what the computation rate is for this??

Age 65
£4174
£34,000 in Cash Balance scheme
4174 - 25% for taxing this at age 60 and not age 65 (£3131) x 20 = £62,620, so maximum lump sum will be £15,655 (funded by my cash balance of £34,000 and the remaining £18,345 in the cash balance will be taken as an UFPLS with the first 25% of this tax free and the remaining 75% will be taxable, leaving a total of £15,594 after the tax etc

I haven't had a statement for the new CDC scheme as yet but I will probably just leave this one alone until I am 67 and take it with my state pension, not expecting much with this one

Does the above look correct, any help appreciated,
RobertT
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 6517
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 14:26
Gender: Male

Re: Understanding pension at age 60

Post by RobertT »

Age60 pot = £275,820(pension x 20 + AVC's), so max lump sum = £68,955.

Commutation rates can vary, but as a rough guide go by 1:20.
To generate the extra £24k lump sum on top of your AVC's, you'll be giving up about £1,200 in pension.

Age65:
The Cash Balance can only be used to fund the lump sum with RMPP benefits.
You may be able to take some(probably a small amount) with any RMPP element of Age60, with the remainder attached to RMPP Age65(2012-2018).

As the Cash Balance is over the 25% limit, the way to work out how much of that can be taken tax free is to assume the pension element is 75% of the 'pot' and therefore the other 25% of your pot is from the Cash Balance.

For example:
£3k(RMPP Age65) x 20 = £60k and so £20k of the Cash Balance is tax free, with the remainder paid as a UFPLS.

*A similar method is used when AVC's total more than 25% of your Age60 'pot'. In your case you'd need AVC's worth £77k+ for it to be an issue.

If you want a lump sum with the RMSPS part of Age65 benefits, that will have to be funded by giving up some pension.
So you'll need to calculate the RMSPS and RMPP elements of your Age65 benefits separately.

RMCPP:
I believe you can login into your online account and see your annual statement there.
I think I read somewhere that this year will be the only time you get a paper statement and they will only be online in the future?
Links to all RM pension related websites are here
Wat69
Posts: 66
Joined: 12 Dec 2018, 15:34
Gender: Male

Re: Understanding pension at age 60

Post by Wat69 »

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Robert ,much appreciated , RM pensions are incredibly difficult to understand , this has given me much to work out and get my head round, hope you don’t mind if I come back with even more questions!
Thanks again
Wullie10
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 650
Joined: 30 Jul 2017, 12:07
Gender: Male
Location: Retired

Re: Understanding pension at age 60

Post by Wullie10 »

Congratulations with your AVC. It probably means you can go at 60 and not a cripple at 67. It's amazing how many tell me if only they knew at the time.