Officers can now plan better for retirement thanks to the Home Office issuing a pension calculator for members of the police pension schemes.
The calculator has been made available after lobbying from the Police Federation of England and Wales and allows officers to get an idea of their projected pension at retirement using their annual pensions statement to help them find the information they need to input.
“The calculator provides members with an estimate of their pensions but I would strong recommend officers seek independent financial advice before making any financial decisions,” says Jim Mallen, chair of Bedfordshire Police Federation.
Currently, different pension administrators are used by police forces to run the schemes so there is a lack of consistency in the format and standard of the pension benefit statements being provided to members across England and Wales.
But the pension calculator which allows officers in all three police pension schemes to be able to obtain illustrations of the benefits they are likely to receive when they retire.
