Question re NHS pension

Appropriate responses have already been given.

I would post on the NHS pension Facebook page they are great.

You need more info first such as which pension she has and how long she is planning to stay at work from now.

eg, my trust pension advisor just advised it was a no brainer that at 60 we retire and return or take partial retirement, thus claiming the pension.
without considering whether the actual hospital department would agree to this, which, in many cases, they do not

they are not good ime

I took my 1995 section pension last year and although contributing years ended in 2022 it was based on my final salary over the past 365 days, so if she’s got 1995 benefits it will make a huge difference. She could retire while at B7 ( if age 60, or look into penalties for taking a bit earlier) and return on a lower salary and be in the new pension scheme, while claiming the 95 benefits.

There is no lump sum in the current NHS pension scheme it is a career average so reducing her salary will affect her overall pension. If she has a 1995 pension which includes a lump sum but it will make no difference as that will have been locked down in 2022 when the scheme ended.

Her Trust's pension team should be able to advise her. That is what they are there for.

there are facebook groups she can ask, these are generally much more knowledgeable

There are so many variables to consider (her age, how long it is until she plans to retire, how many years she has in the different schemes, how pension is calculated for each scheme, what the early redemption penalties are, and what her options are under the McCloud ruling) that she must speak to a NHS pension person before doing anything.

changing from band 7 to 2 could massively impact her pension if all the above factors are not taken into account. Do not rely on any old pension advisors, she really needs someone with sound knowledge of all the NHS pension schemes.

She can find out which schemes she is in by looking on ESR for her total rewards statement.

Totally will depend on which scheme she is - and how much she has in the legacy schemes. The 95 and 2008 are final
salary - so yes reducing your salary slll have a big impact on pension and lump sum. Although to be precise they are either best if the last three years or an average of the next few years - so it’s ok if only dropping your hand 2 for a year so so.

The 2015 scheme is based on an average of your overall earnings - so dropping pay will reduce your contributions and so your pension but only by a bit if most of your career was at band 7

Retire and return or partial retirement are other options here

Please don't take Mumsnet advice on something so important, particularly with so little info provided. She needs to sit down with the NHS pensions people to get a proper answer.

Her lump sum and pension will be reduced but it’s complicated if she switches from a band 7 to a band 2 job. The amount it will be reduced by depends on whether she has pension in more than one scheme and how long she has been in the scheme(s) for at different salaries. If she can’t work it out for herself it would be worth asking a financial advisor to assist.