My company have changed the retirement age 20 years after I started my pension

[QuebecBagnet]

So private pension which I started over20 years ago. On the understanding I’d be able to claim full pension at 55yo. Had a letter now saying they’ve changed it to 57yo as the government have now declared 57yo to be the new minimum retirement age.

can they do this? I thought I’d be getting it in 9 years time. Seems shit that the government can interfere as what’s it got to do with them? Maybe I wouldn’t have paid into it if I’d known 🤷🏻‍♀️ (Well I would but that’s not the point).

Yes, mine too.

*wonders if we're all in the same scheme

well @titchy has just answered that for me!

OP, it sounds like you would do well to get some advice on your pension and your retirement plans. Would be awful if you got a shock when it's too late for you to rectify or make other plans.

@Rainbowshit I’ve got ten years of the private, final salary scheme, ten years in the nhs defined contribution scheme and currently 6 years in the Teachers pension scheme (hopefully be 20 in total in that one by the time I retire). So 40 years of pensions in 3 different but all good schemes. Mostly full time working so even if I don’t quite understand it all I’m hoping I’ll be ok.

I know I can’t get the last two pensions until I’m 67. The first one which I can get at 60 won’t be enough to live off. Not sure I can keep in my current job past 60 but maybe with the first pension I can leave my current job and try and find something else.

Mine also changed FS to CARE but so far no guarantees about what happens that. The most likely outcome is apparently same as you- I'll get FS pension based on those and based on earnings at that date. Apparently having no NI executive is holding up the legislation!

The biggest issue in general is having to work longer (depending what age you joined up to 7 years longer, for me 5) to be entitled to draw any pension.

For me personally like pp the issue is that I took stat mat pay (non pensionable) and no career break/ part time and didn't go for promotion early on. Now my FS is based on a lower grade than I was expecting. And it turns out I would have had time to take a year or more out and still retire at the (new) normal age.

Overall it's still a decent pension scheme but it would need to be at the price I'm paying for it! And now we know pensions can be changed who knows what it'll end up like!