Along_the_Wire Yes and no. I am defined benefit and my pensionable pay until aged 35 was only ⅔ of my actual pay as ⅓ of pay was unsociable hours pay. Its very ver complicated. But at todays moneys and based in 2% wage inflation I hit LTA at 55 and all my plans are to fuck off then, if not before.
An added complication is that LTA is based on your pension when you take it after actuarial reduction so actually favours early retirement.
Capital value is (20 x pension) + lump sum.
Say aged 60 I had a pension of 50k and lump sum of 150k. Capital value is £1,150,000
If the same person retires at 55, having accrued exactly the same pension benefits. (worked same amount of time and same salary/ pension benefits, just 5 years earlier in their life) their pension would be reduced by 21% and their lump sum reduced by 15%. This is to account for the fact they are living an extra 5 years (or thereabouts). But their capital value is only £1,017,500. By retiring early, and getting the same pension amount (reduced yearly amount / lump sum but for longer) you have taken over £130k out of the capital value.
The whole system is rigged towards early retirement. And now that doctors in their 50s are disappearing and not coming back, we are in real trouble.
