New 2015 NHS pension scheme
Further information on the new NHS pension scheme running from April 2015 has been released. No longer based on final-salary, the new pension will run as a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme and have a much later normal retirement age.
In general terms, medical professionals born after 1962 could be affected and will automatically move to the new scheme for their future service only. Individuals born before this date will either be exempted altogether and remain members of the 1995 or 2008 pensions or will be subject to transitional arrangements.
Under the terms of the new agreement, 1/54th of pensionable earnings will be added to the individual’s pension account annually and each year the total accrued pension account will be revalued in line with inflation (currently the Consumer Price Index) plus 1.5% to reflect a measure of pay growth. The normal pension age will be the same as the person’s state pension age.
Further details will be released by the government in the year ahead.