Forces to work Longer for Smaller Pension
The armed forces will have to work for an extra two years and will then receive a smaller pension after leaving their post, the MoD has announced. This comes after a new retirement scheme was unveiled, where Defence Secretary, Phillip Hammond admitted: “While change is never easy, we have to ensure that Service pensions are affordable, sustainable and fair”.
Troops would only qualify for a full pension after 20 years of service, compared to the current 18 years they must serve. As well as this, while full pensions are currently available from age 55, they will be available from a reduced rate only at this age, and ex-service men and women will only get their full pension from age 67.
This means that some middle ranking officers could lose as much as £250,000 from their pension salaries, as forces are once again the subject of government spending cutbacks. This comes just weeks after 12,000 job losses were announced in the Army, which will see the force shrink to 82,000, and dozens of officers complained about being axed soon before qualifying for full pensions.
However ministers have stressed that the pension scheme for troops still remains one of the most generous available and no contributions are required from personnel throughout their service. The proposed change would affect anyone who is more than 10 years from retirement.
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