Any pensions experts out there?

[gardenangels]

Can I work out what my pension is worth for divorce purposes from the yearly amount I will get aged 60?

[Walkacrossthesand]

Are you talking about your state pension? If so, it doesn't have a 'pension pot' like private pensions do - and you won't get it at 60!! If you have a public service pension (eg NHS) the relevant pensions agency website will have a calculator to work out what your 'virtual' pension pot is. If you have a private pension I don't imagine you can know how much your monthly pension will be, as it depends totally on the performance of the pension fund between now and when you retire, doesn't it?

[gardenangels]

Hi thanks it is a final salary pension that I left early so statement says at aged 60 I will get 10k a year.

[Equiem89]

Contact your administrator and they will be able to provide you with a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value. This is different to an estimated value of what you will receive at 60

[gardenangels]

Thanks. Which one is the larger amount? Lawyer said that a final salary pension is worth more than cash equivalent.

[Equiem89]

Sorry but that doesn't make sense. Your pension is 10k a year at 60 but the cash equivalent could be 300k. I've made the number totally off the top of my head. The cash equivalent is the value of your pot, it takes into account pre and post 97 rights, GMP benefits, how the pension behaves in deferment and payment etc.

[chicaguapa]

You can't calculate the CETV. Ask the administrators to do it. There'll be a charge as the assumptions are slightly different for divorce purposes. As to which is the larger amount, the clue is in the name Cash Equivalent Transfer Value.

The actuary will make various assumptions as to how long you'll receive the pension for, eg if life expectancy for someone of your age and sex is 92, you'll get £10k a year for 32 years, plus increases. Which is £320k. Whether you live for that long will determine whether the CETV or the pension was worth more. But you don't have a crystal ball and nor do they, so the assumptions are deemed to be reasonable to provide an equivalent value.