The rules, in English

Last day of service and retirement date

These are not the same day. Last day of service is the last day you are employed. The retirement date is the next calendar day — that is the first day the pension is paid.

Age, commutation factors and “can I retire at 50 / 55?” use the retirement date. Service is counted up to last day of service. The calculator date box is last day of service; it always shows the retirement date underneath.

1992 scheme

Old final-salary scheme. Closed to new joiners from April 2006. Each year is 1/45th of your final pay. 30 years = two-thirds of pay. That is the cap.

You can retire at 55, or at 50 if you have 25 years in. You can trade up to a quarter of the pension for a lump. Under 55 with under 30 years the lump is capped at 2.25 × the pension. The factor is your age in years and months on the retirement date (GAD England table from May 2026).

Tax on the 1992 lump

HMRC treat a defined-benefit pension as worth 20 times the yearly amount left after commutation. The tax-free lump cannot be more than 25% of (lump + 20 × residual pension), and cannot be more than your lump-sum allowance (usually £268,275).

Because 1992 commutation factors are above 20, the scheme maximum is often bigger than the tax-free maximum. The calculator defaults to the tax-free figure. You can take the extra. That extra is taxed at your marginal income-tax rate. 2015 and 2006 use £12 per £1, so they stay inside the HMRC 25% test.

2006 scheme

Final salary for people who joined from April 2006 to March 2015. 1/60th of pay per year. Normal pension age 60. You can retire from 55 with a cut. Lump is £12 for each £1 you give up.

Modified (retained) members get 1/45th and a normal pension age of 55.

2015 scheme

Career average. Each year banks 1/59.7 of that year’s pay. The pot is revalued with average earnings while you are still serving. Normal pension age 60. From 55 there is a cut of about a fifth. At 60 there is no cut. If last day of service is before 55 the pot waits, and taking it early costs more.

McCloud

If you were in on 31 March 2012 and you served between April 2015 and March 2022, you get a pick at the retirement date: count those years in the old scheme or in 2015. From April 2022 everyone is in 2015.