Scheme benefits
- Scheme benefits
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- Retire at 60 - this is the normal pension age (NPA)
- Take your pension from age 55 if you wish with reductions applied to your pension
- No maximum length or service limit on benefits
- Your employer contributes towards your pension fund - amount equal to 14.3% of your pay(1)
- 1/59.7 of your annual pensionable earnings added each year to your pension pot in this Career Average Revalue Earnings (CARE) scheme
- Total pension pot revalued on 1 April each year until retirement, in line with inflation, based on changes in Average Weekly Earnings (AWE)
- Death grant lump sum of 3 times your final pay paid if you die in service while an active member of the scheme
- Survivors' benefits payable if you die while in the scheme
- Exchange pension at retirement for a one-off lump sum - you may give up £1 of pension to receive £12 of lump sum up to a maximum of 25% of your total pension
- Immediate pension benefits if you retire due to ill health subject to the 2015 scheme rules and your employer's approval
- Boost your pension pot if you wish, by buying additional pension - up to a maximum of £6,761 in the year to 31 March 2020
(1) figure current at April 2020
More information about the scheme can be found in the Guide to the Firefighters Pension Scheme 2015 (England)
- When you can retire
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The normal retirement age from the 2015 Fire Pension Scheme is age 60. This is the earliest date that you can leave active employment and receive your benefits in full.
It is possible to take your benefits from age 55 but they will be subject to reductions. These reductions are based on the number of years and months between retirement age and age 60 and reduce the closer you get to age 60.
For more information on retirements refer to the retirement options.