BRASS pension

[gtat]

Hello,

I recently joined the SWR section of the Railway Pension Scheme and I make additional contributions through BRASS. I have tried to find out the options for taking this 'pot' when I retire, but RPS haven't been very useful.

Does anyone know what the commutation rate from lump sum to annual pension is? I.e. if I can get a higher annual pension by giving up £X from my lump sum?

 

[whoosh]

@gtat £12 lump sum converts to £1 per annum pension.
This makes BRASS a very good thing as most other pensions it's £20.
I can't remember the maximum and minimum limits on the pension vs lump sum though. You can't have it all as a lump sum, and also there's a maximum amount that converts to pension as well.

There is a Facebook group 'UK Railway Pensions and State Pension Changes' which has a lot of information on it.

 

[gtat]

@gtat £12 lump sum converts to £1 per annum pension.
This makes BRASS a very good thing as most other pensions it's £20.
I can't remember the maximum and minimum limits on the pension vs lump sum though. You can't have it all as a lump sum, and also there's a maximum amount that converts to pension as well.

There is a Facebook group 'UK Railway Pensions and State Pension Changes' which has a lot of information on it.

Thank you, Whoosh. That's incredibly helpful!

 

[RyanC87]

Does anyone know if you can transfer in an old pension to this. I have one from a previous employer.

I start tomorrow, so looking at options to see if it's worthwhile.

 

[whoosh]

Does anyone know if you can transfer in an old pension to this. I have one from a previous employer.

I start tomorrow, so looking at options to see if it's worthwhile.

Different TOC's form different sections of the Railway Pension Scheme. Some sections allow transfers in still and some don't. You'd have to check the rules of your section of the scheme.

Is it SWR you are starting with too, or somewhere else on the railway? Another poster here may know the answer to your question with regard to the company you are joining maybe?

If your section does allow transfers in then you can get a quote as to what it would be worth if you were to transfer it in, and can then take action to do so or not.

 

[RyanC87]

Different TOC's form different sections of the Railway Pension Scheme. Some sections allow transfers in still and some don't. You'd have to check the rules of your section of the scheme.

Is it SWR you are starting with too, or somewhere else on the railway? Another poster here may know the answer to your question with regard to the company you are joining maybe?

If your section does allow transfers in then you can get a quote as to what it would be worth if you were to transfer it in, and can then take action to do so or not.

Thank you for that info.

Its TFW I am joining.

 

[IKB]

If your TOCs section of the RPS allows transfers in then do it as soon as you start. The number of years you "buy" when you transfer in is based on your salary at that point in time. Eg on a training salary of £35K you will buy more years than if you wait until you pass out and are earning £60K.
Obviously they will give you a transfer quote first, which you can accept or decline.

 

[RyanC87]

If your TOCs section of the RPS allows transfers in then do it as soon as you start. The number of years you "buy" when you transfer in is based on your salary at that point in time. Eg on a training salary of £35K you will buy more years than if you wait until you pass out and are earning £60K.
Obviously they will give you a transfer quote first, which you can accept or decline.

That's brilliant thank you. It's only a small pot I have of about 40k. Although with recent markets it's probably 20k now. But its not doing much where it is so I'll definitely get a quote and transfer it in

 

[Need2]

That's brilliant thank you. It's only a small pot I have of about 40k. Although with recent markets it's probably 20k now. But its not doing much where it is so I'll definitely get a quote and transfer it in

I contacted RPS about 5 years ago regarding transferring a pension in and they said a big fat no, they no longer do it.
Don’t know if it’s TOC specific?

 

[RyanC87]

I contacted RPS about 5 years ago regarding transferring a pension in and they said a big fat no, they no longer do it.
Don’t know if it’s TOC specific?

That's fair enough. I assumed maybe it was like that. I never bothered transferring to police as it got me nothing. Alot of the better schemes either buy you nothing or is a no

 

[BurningFeetMan]

Hello,

I recently joined the SWR section of the Railway Pension Scheme and I make additional contributions through BRASS. I have tried to find out the options for taking this 'pot' when I retire, but RPS haven't been very useful.

Does anyone know what the commutation rate from lump sum to annual pension is? I.e. if I can get a higher annual pension by giving up £X from my lump sum?

I believe the minimum lump sum you can take is the value of your BRASS pension pot.

This means you would take 0 lump sum out of your pension pot and that would be your maximum annual pension.

 

[IKB]

I contacted RPS about 5 years ago regarding transferring a pension in and they said a big fat no, they no longer do it.
Don’t know if it’s TOC specific?

There are different sections of the RPS. Some TOC sections allow transfers, others don't.

 

[Stigy]

I contacted RPS about 5 years ago regarding transferring a pension in and they said a big fat no, they no longer do it.
Don’t know if it’s TOC specific?

As has been said, it does vary. I transferred mine from the SWT/R section to the GWT section when I joined GWR as a trainee driver (although it took a fair few months). The thing to remember is you’re penalised less on lower earnings, so for a job like driver, it’s best to do it as a trainee. Even if they drag their heels, and your salary increases in the meantime, you’ll still be transferred on the basis of the salary you applied on.

 

[Watershed]

@gtat £12 lump sum converts to £1 per annum pension.
This makes BRASS a very good thing as most other pensions it's £20.
I can't remember the maximum and minimum limits on the pension vs lump sum though. You can't have it all as a lump sum, and also there's a maximum amount that converts to pension as well.

There is a Facebook group 'UK Railway Pensions and State Pension Changes' which has a lot of information on it.

Whilst the ratio between lump sum and annual pension is indeed a highly generous 12:1 with the RPS, unfortunately you generally can't convert BRASS funds in this way. The only circumstances in which you can do so are if:

1) You joined a particular Network Rail section of the RPS before April 2009 (the OP is therefore not eligible for this); or

2) Your combined BRASS funds and lump sum add up to more than the maximum 25% tax-free amount you are allowed to take upon retirement. In this case, you can convert anything above the 25% to additional pension.

Obviously, you would have to have a very large BRASS fund for this to be the case, and it would only be the excess above 25% that gets converted at the generous 12:1 rate.

In reality, the most generous bit is probably that you can convert your lump sum to additional pension at 12:1. If you didn't want to take any lump sum at all (noting that you will pay income tax on your pension, but not on the lump sum) then this would typically add about 20% to the value of your pension, depending on your salary/section.