Your Normal Pension Age (NPA) is age 63 or age 60 if you joined the Scheme before 1 April 1988. If you are a male member who joined the Scheme before 1 April 1988 and you have a NPA of 60 and you choose to retire between the ages of 60 and 63 your benefits may be reduced.
A few months before you retire, the pension scheme administrator, Mercer, will write to you to let you know what your pension and cash sum is expected to be. If you decide that you want to take your pension, you just need to fill in the forms they sent and return them to the pension scheme administrator.
You don’t have to retire at your NPA if you don’t want to. You can choose to either:
- Retire anytime after age 55, although your pension will be reduced for early payment if you retire before your NPA;
- Continue working and building up benefits in the Scheme after age 63 (or 60, if applicable). In this case, you will continue to pay contributions and build up Pensionable Service and be covered for a Life Assurance benefit of four times Pensionable Salary.
If you wish, and subject to approval, you may take your pension from age 55, or earlier if there is evidence that you are unable to work for the Company on the grounds of ill health.