You must have at least 3 months' qualifying service in the FPS 2006 to be entitled to a pension. Qualifying service is the calendar length of scheme membership.
Normal retirement age for all regular and standard retained firefighter members of the FPS 2006 is age 60. If you choose to retire at or after this age, your pension would be put into immediate payment. This is known as age retirement.
If you have reached age 55 but not age 60, you could –
- at the FRA's discretion, be granted an Authority Initiated Early Retirement pension.
- choose to take a Member Initiated Early Retirement pension. In this case, however, your pension would be reduced for early payment.
An ill-health pension may be payable at any age.
If you leave the FPS 2006 before becoming entitled to payment of any of the above awards you may be given a deferred pension. This would be payable from:
- normal benefit age (65), or
- at your request, between ages 55 and 65, subject to reduction, or
- at your request, at any age, on grounds of permanent disability, which stops you from doing regular work - subject to assessment by an independent qualified medical practitioner (IQMP).
The FPS 2006 retirement decision tree outlines retirement options for members who have transferred into FPS 2015.