Taking NRA 65 Benefits early calculation worry.

[Stef]

Hi I am 58 years old and plan to retire at age 60. I plan to take both my NRA 60 and NRA 65 benefits at 60 when I leave Royal Mail. I am in Section C.
My concern is that I checked out my NRA 65 figures on the online Royal Mail Pension Plan Retirement Calculator website to see what penalty reductions I would loose for taking my NRA 65 early at 60 years old ( 5 years early)
https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... lculators/
I had thought that to take your NRA 65 benefits early it would be reduced 5% for each year you take it early. Therefore I was expecting a 25% deduction for taking it early at age 60. I was surprised the penalty percentages each year are higher than the 5% each year I originally thought.
On the retirement calculator website it asks if you have your recent NRA 65 illustration ( Squirrel one) . I ticked yes and copied my figures into the calculator. So on my Squirrel illustration it says I have zero NRA 60 and zero NRA 60 supplement figures. I have £2432 NRA 65 benefits and £451 supplement figures. I have a cash Balance of £ 32057. The figures the calculator gave me are as follows.
So if I took my NRA 65 at age 64 (one year early) it would be £2242.30 a 7.8% reduction penalty.
If I took it at age 63 ( 2 years early) it would be £2069.63 a 14.9% reduction penalty.
If I took it at age 62 ( 3 years early) it would be £1913.98 a 21.3% reduction penalty.
If I took it at age 61 ( 4 years early) it would be £1772.93 a 27.1% reduction penalty.
If I took it at age 60 ( 5 years early ) it would be £1644.03 a 32.4% reduction penalty
These reduction percentages shocked me. Does anyone know why the reduction percentages are so high. Why are they above the 5% for each year that everyone usually works things out with?
For anyone who is curious the NRA 65 pension supplement was reduced from £451 to £102.73 a massive reduction of 76.9% for taking at age 60 ( 5 years early)
Also the cash Balance fund went from £32057 to £29813.01 a reduction of 7% only if taken at age 60 ( 5 years early). This I can handle but the reduction percentage for the NRA 65 pension and supplement seem ridiculous. It would be much appreciated if anyone can explain why the reduction percentages are way higher than the 5% deduction most people use to work out pensions when taken early. Thanks folks for reading.