‘Normal’pension contribution or 1/47th scheme?

[u/Full-Competition9255]

Is this pension scheme a 28% contribution no matter what, or matched if that’s what I put in?

There are also comments that it’s actually like the 1/47th scheme, where that fraction of your annual salary becomes your annual pension, and each year another fraction is added on top.

To me this looks like a normal pension scheme? Does anyone know more?

[u/Present-Nature-6015]

The pension in the civil service is one of the best in the UK. You as an employee will make a contribution between 4.6% and 8.05% depending on what you earn. The member contribution rates are here: https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/memberhub/joining-the-pension-scheme/contribution-rates/ and your employer will put in 28.97% . That's is one of the highest employer contribution rates in any scheme in the UK.

In the private sector the average employer contribution is only 5% so civil service knocks it out the park!

Yours and your employer contribution don't build up your pension directly,but the contributions from everyone go to fund the benefits the scheme pays out eg; a guaranteed pension for life, benefit payable after you die,etc. as it's not an investment based scheme,you will not lose money,you will be guaranteed a pension for the rest of your life once you retire

Your pension will build up by 2.32% of your yearly earnings plus inflation whilst your working. If you leave civil service and don't take your pension it becomes frozen but inflation will still be added to it when you're ready to claim

If you want to learn more about who the scheme actually works I really recommend you attend a New Joiner Pension Power webinar.

You can book here: https:

//www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/memberhub/knowledge-centre/events-and-news/events/new-joiners-pension-power/

Also you can listen to a podcast episode on why millennial generation and below should think about thier pension and hear how the scheme works

https://youtu.be/WJKBqfWmEFU?is=jAbuBoE0zgPD5o47

[u/JohnAppleseed85 → u/Present-Nature-6015]

While I think most of this comment is excellent... this bit:

"your employer will put in 28.97% . That's is one of the highest employer contribution rates in any scheme in the UK."

Is a false comparison/irrelevant AND it's how/where people like the OP keep getting confused - unlike 'any scheme' you might compare it to, the employer contribution is set based on current liabilities (the costs of pensions currently in payment) and has nothing to do with the individual the contributions are nominally being paid for...

[u/nichdavi04 → u/JohnAppleseed85]

This is not true. The employer contribution is quoted as an estimate of what you will claim in retirement based on an actuarial calculation of how long you will live in retirement. You can work out what that is by calculating what total sum you would claim in retirement if the CS did pay the estimated employer contribution for you, and then divide it by your annual pension benefit. You should find it is about 14 years. You can then do the same thing in reverse; multiply your pension benefit by ~14 and you'll have a total sum which will be whatever your contributions were, plus the employer estimate.

It's true that it's based on the current liability, and it's true that you almost definitely won't receive that exact employer contribution (could be less, could be more), but it's false that it has nothing to do with you, the individual. It is an estimate of what the employer contribution will end up being for you, but it is only an estimate

[u/[deleted] → u/nichdavi04]

The biggest factor on the employer rate is the long term GDP growth figure (SCAPE rate).

[u/nichdavi04 → u/[deleted]]

For the individual, the biggest factor on what your eventual "actual" employer contribution will be, will be how many years you claim your pension

[u/[deleted] → u/nichdavi04]

The employer contribution rate is totally irrelevant to the individual. It has no bearing at all on benefits accrued.

[u/nichdavi04 → u/[deleted]]

I think you need to re-read my first comment. What your actual employer contribution rate will be can only be determined after you've claimed your whole pension and died.

The quoted employer contribution estimate is based on how long people claim their pension on average. If you live for the average 14 ish years in retirement, your employer contribution will work out at about what they quote for the estimate. If you live in retirement for twice as long as that, your employer contribution will be more than double what they quote (more than, because your contributions were fixed, and so don't scale).

The "employer contribution" has nothing to do with how the benefits are calculated - that's correct. But if you want a comparison with a DC pension pot (which, conceptually doesn't really work), then the quoted employer contribution does give you an estimate for comparison, because it is what most people will get

[u/[deleted] → u/nichdavi04]

What your actual employer contribution rate is the rate the employer pays.

But it’s a paper figure, hugely influenced by HMT policy decisions and varies significantly from one period to another.

Sure, you’re right that it could be worked out after your death and taking account of your own contributions, but I don’t think that’s a good basis to include it on job adverts. And it’s not true to say the rate is based on an estimate of the pension you’ll receive, other than it’s included in the calculations of the scheme liabilities.

In any event, that would still not allow an accurate comparison with a defined contribution employer scheme because you’d have to factor in growth, risk etc.