How do I inform you that I’m retiring?

Your employer needs to tell us that you are retiring so we can calculate your benefits. Let your manager know as soon as you have decided on a retirement date.

Your employer should give you a retirement declaration form to complete and send to us. If you have not been given a copy, please ask us to send one to you or download one from this link.

If you have deferred (frozen) benefits with us, please write to us to request that they are paid. Please give us three months' notice of your retirement date if possible.

If you stopped contributing to the LGPS before 1 April 1998, you can only ask for your benefits to be paid at age 60, age 65 or your normal retirement date.If you stopped contributing after this date, you can ask for your benefits to be paid at any date after age 60.

To calculate and pay your pension, we must have:

• Your completed retirement declaration form.
• Information about your hours and pay from your employer.
• If you paid AVCs, its value paid to us by the AVC provider. This cannot be done ahead of retirement and may cause a delay of around eight weeks.

How early can I retire?

You can take early retirement and receive your pension benefits from age 60*, provided you have at least three months' membership or have transferred pension rights into the LGPS.

If you retire before age 65, or before your earliest retirement date your pension and lump sum will be reduced. The table below shows the reductions that will apply, depending on the number of years early you take your pension.

* Other options

• You can choose to retire at age 60 but not take your benefits until age 65 (or until your earliest retirement date). Your benefits then would be paid in full.

• Between and including the ages of 55 and 59 you may also elect to retire and receive your LGPS benefits, but only if your employer gives their consent as they may have to pay a special charge to the pension fund. These benefits may be reduced, but your employer can choose not to apply this reduction on compassionate grounds.

• No reductions are applied to your benefits if you are retired on the grounds of ill-health

What happens if I retire early due to ill-health?

If you have at least three months membership of the scheme:

• If your employer’s medical adviser certifies that you are permanently incapable of doing the job for which you are employed, and that you are unlikely to be capable of ‘gainful employment’ within three years, we increase your years of Scheme membership and start paying your benefits straight away.

• If your employer’s medical adviser certifies that you are permanently incapable of doing the job for which you are employed, but that you are likely to be capable of gainful employment within three years, we do not increase your Scheme membership and only pay your benefits until you find gainful employment or your former employer reviews your state of health.

‘Gainful employment’ means paid work for at least 30 hours a week for at least 12 months

• If you have deferred benefits with us, and wish to retire on grounds of ill-heath, you will need to contact your previous employer as they will need to consent to the early payment of these benefits.

The medical adviser must be qualified in occupational health medicine and must not have previously been involved in your case.

What happens if I want to carry on working after age 65?

If you start (or continue) working in Local Government after your 65^th birthday you are still entitled to pay into the Pension Scheme and will earn pension rights in the usual way.

However you must leave the Pension Scheme no later than 2 days before your 75^th birthday.

You can draw your pension when

• you retire or
• you reach the eve of your 75^th birthday or
• you have your employer’s consent for flexible retirement

At the date that you draw your pension, it will be increased by 0.014% for every day since your 65^th birthday (or your date of joining the Pension Scheme, if later).

The tax-free lump sum in respect of any pre-April 2008 service will be increased by 0.007% per day over the same period.

This means that for every year that you defer payment after reaching age 65

• the value of your pension before you exchange any of it for a tax-free lump sum will increase by approximately 5.11%  and
• the value of any pre-April 2008 lump sum will increase by approximately 2.56%

However you must draw your pension and lump sum no later than the day before your 75^th birthday.

Transitional Protections

85-year rule

If you were a member of the LGPS on 30 September 2006, and retire before 65, some or all of your benefits could be protected from the early payment reduction under what is called the 85-year rule.

You satisfy the 85-year rule if your age at the date you draw your benefits and your scheme membership (each in whole years) add up to 85 or more.

Please remember that if you joined the LGPS on or after 1 October 2006, the 85-year rule does not apply to you. So, if you choose to receive your benefits before age 65 (other than on grounds of ill health, redundancy or efficiency), the full early payment reduction will apply to your benefits.