As a protected member, you will move to the FPS 2015 on 1 April 2022. You do not need to leave before transferring to retain your FPS 1992 benefits. Your existing FPS 1992 pension rights will not transfer with you, and they will remain fully protected in the FPS 1992. You will still be able to retire on the date that you had intended and take your FPS 1992 benefits in full, based on your final salary at that date and with an enhancement to your protected FPS 1992 pension to reflect the double accrual on the service you have already built up.
From 1 April 2022 you will pay a lower rate of contributions and you will start to build up pension benefits in the FPS 2015 on a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) basis. There is no cap on the amount of pension that can be earned in the FPS 2015. Firefighters who transfer from FPS 1992 to FPS 2015 will be able to build up a bigger pension if they choose to work for longer than 30 years.
Click here to find out more about the FPS 2015.
You have a number of options, the three most likely are given below. As you have transferred from the FPS 1992 to the FPS 2015, you will be entitled to a “two part” pension. The first will be based on your FPS 1992 service (including double accrual) and your average pensionable pay at the date you retire. The second part will be a CARE pension built up under the rules of the FPS 2015. There is no cap on the amount of pension that can be earned in the FPS 2015. Firefighters who transfer from FPS 1992 to FPS 2015 will be able to build up a bigger pension if they choose to work for longer than 30 years.
Where there is a reduction to an element of your FPS 2015 pension benefits because you have chosen to retire before age 60, this is because your pension benefits will be paid to you for longer than has been costed.
Option 1: You can retire from age 50 if you have 25 or more years combined, continuous, pensionable service in the FPS 1992 and 2015.
This means
- Your FPS 1992 pension benefits will be paid immediately, and there will be no reduction to these benefits.
- Your FPS 2015 benefits will be deferred. You can choose to receive these benefits in full from your State Pension Age or take these benefits from age 55 (i.e. before your State Pension Age) at a reduced level.
Please note that if you retire under the age of 55 with less than 30 years' pensionable service, your FPS 1992 lump sum will be restricted to a maximum of 2.25 x annual pension.
Option 2: You can retire from age 55 up to age 60.
This means
- Your FPS 1992 pension benefits will be paid immediately, and there will be no reduction to these benefits.
- Your FPS 2015 pension benefits will be paid immediately with a reduction to your pension benefits to reflect the fact that they will be in payment for longer.
Option 3: You could retire at or after age 60.
This means
- Your FPS 1992 pension benefits will be paid immediately, and there will be no reduction to these benefits.
- Your FPS 2015 pension benefits will be paid immediately and there will be no reduction to these benefits.
- If you work past age 60, you will receive an "age addition" to your FPS 2015 pension benefits to reflect the fact that you have worked for longer.
The FPS 1992 retirement decision tree outlines retirement options for members who have transferred into FPS 2015.
As set out above, you can choose the age that you wish to retire. Every year that you are a member of the FPS 2015 you will always earn further pension benefits in that scheme even if that is beyond 30 years of membership.
The level of pension benefits that you will receive depends on a number of personal factors including:
- the amount of service accrued in the FPS 1992 before you transferred to the FPS 2015
- the amount of combined continuous service in both schemes
- the age when you wish to retire and
- the final salary at the point you retire
The first part of the pension built up in the 1992 scheme will be calculated as:
Pensionable service x average pensionable pay ÷ 60 (accrual rate) = Annual pension
See FPS 1992 How is my pension worked out? for more information.
The accrual rate is the rate at which you build up your pension benefits, expressed as a fraction. The accrual rate will depend on your total combined continuous pensionable service in both the FPS 1992 and 2015. As a transition member, you receive protection of the double accrual that you would have expected if you had stayed in the FPS 1992 until retirement. This is known as the double accrual guarantee.
The second part of the pension built up in the FPS 2015 will be calculated under a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) arrangement.
Each year a slice of pension will build up based on your pensionable pay in that year multiplied by an accrual rate. Each year the pension that you have built up will be uprated by a revaluation rate. This second part of the pension will be reduced if it is taken before the scheme’s Normal Pension Age of 60.
See FPS 2015 How is my pension worked out? for more information.
On retirement you can exchange some of your pension for a cash lump sum, this is known as commuting your pension or commutation. You can exchange as much or as little as you like as long as you do not exceed the maximum limits. For transition members, any lump sum will also be calculated in two parts:
The amount provided as a lump sum in the FPS 1992 is decided by factors provided by the Scheme Actuary. The factor used will depend upon your age in completed years and months on the day your pension starts. See FPS 1992 How much lump sum can I take? for more information.
The pension payable from the FPS 2015 can be exchanged at a rate of 12:1 – for each £1 of pension that you give up, you get £12 as lump sum. See FPS 2015 How much lump sum can I take? for more information.
The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 requires the normal pension age to be age 60 and pension taken before that to be reduced. The table below sets out the reduction to your FPS 2015 pension only; your FPS 1992 pension will be taken unreduced.
Reductions are worked out by the Scheme Actuary. These are the current factors and are subject to change.
| Age | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 |
| Percentage reduction | 21.3% | 17.7% | 13.7% | 9.5% | 4.9% |
You will pay a lower rate of contributions in the FPS 2015 than in the FPS 1992. See FPS 2015 How much do I pay? for more details.
Think carefully about this – it is a good idea to seek independent financial advice before you make any decisions. If you stop paying contributions into the FPS 2015 (i.e. opt out of the scheme) at any stage before you retire then the link to your FPS 1992 benefits will be broken.
This means that you will not be able to access your FPS 1992 pension benefits until you are 60 as that is the scheme's deferred pension age.
In addition, the final salary used to calculate your FPS 1992 benefits will be the salary at the point you choose to opt out of the FPS 2015 rather than your final salary at the point of retirement. Any pension benefits earned under the FPS 2015 will become deferred and payable from your State Pension age.
If you choose to re-join the FPS 2015 at any point, your FPS 1992 benefits will remain deferred, and payable from age 60. This is because the FPS 1992 is closed to re-joiners and therefore you cannot reactivate your membership. Provided that you re-join the FPS 2015 within 5 years of opting out, then your previous benefits earned in the FPS 2015 will be linked with your new membership and you will be able to take all these benefits at the scheme’s Normal Pension Age of 60.
You can find more information on the FPS 2015 opting out page.