When can you retire?
In this section
You can take your pension from the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 at age 60.
Are you building up benefits elsewhere?
This section gives you details about when you can take your firefighters' pension scheme 2006 pension. If you have benefits in the firefighters' pension scheme 2015 you should also read about what age you can start to receive your benefits from that section.
Retiring
Taking your benefits
You can take your pension from the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 at age 60 - this is known as normal retirement age.
You may also have the option to take your pension from age 55, but the amount you receive would be different.
Retirement decision tree
Selecting the right age for you
Use our retirement decision tree to find out what age you can take your pension:
When can you retire?
Normal retirement age
Age 60
Once you reach age 60, you can take your pension without reduction. This is known as normal retirement age.
Deferred pension age
If you have deferred benefits in the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 (i.e. you have opted out of the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 or have left employment and did not transfer your pension to a different pension scheme) your deferred pension would be paid at age 65.
Early retirement
Age 55
You may be able to take your pension from age 55, however it would be reduced as it will be paid for longer.
The amount your pension would be reduced by would depend on how early you selected to take it.
Before you retire, your administrator would let you know the amount of reduced pension you could receive based on your selected retirement age.
Current firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 reductions (known as early retirement factors)
Use the table to select the age you would like to retire early. Then multiply your annual pension amount by the early retirement factor to see how much it would be.
Tell us what age you'd like to retire by to filter the early retirement factors in the table below.
Reduction based on number of years and months the pension is taken early.
| Years early | Months early | Reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Fetching results... | ||
Example
Early retirement
Retirement age: 58
Pensionable service: 10 years
Final pensionable pay: £27,000
A reduction of 0.705 would apply and the pension would be worked out as:
(10 x £27,000 x 1/60) x 0.705 = £3,172.50 a year
Employer initiated early retirement
If your fire and rescue authority decides that you should retire in the interests of the economical, effective and efficient management of the service, your pension would not be reduced for early retirement.
Late retirement
After age 60
All members moved to the firefighters’ pension scheme 2015 from 1 April 2022. This means that no further benefits are building up in the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006, but you may have benefits held in the firefighters’ pension scheme 2006 until you retire.
You can build up a maximum of 45 years of service.
If you are building up benefits in the firefighters’ pension scheme 2015, you can find out what happens to them if you choose to retire after age 60 on the late retirement page of the firefighters’ pension scheme 2015 section.
Retirement process
Steps to retirement
There are some simple steps to take when planning to retire:
- 01.
Inform the administrator that looks after your pension that you are planning to retire at least six months* before your planned retirement date so they have time to prepare your documentation.
- 02.
There may be some forms to complete, which your administrator or fire and rescue authority will provide.
- 03.
You’ll get a statement, letting you know how much you could receive.
- 04.
Let your administrator know you’d like to go ahead with your retirement plans and if you would like to give up any of your pension for a lump sum.
- 05.
You will normally start to receive your pension on the next available payroll. You will be given confirmation of when this will be.
- 06.
If you have chosen a lump sum, this would be paid as soon as possible after your first day of retirement.
*Your administrator may be able to provide information sooner than this, however providing as much notice as possible will ensure complicated cases, such as members affected by remedy, have enough time to be processed.