Deferring Retirement
If your normal retirement age is age 60 we will write to you with details of the options available shortly before you reach your Normal Retirement Age, this will include the option to defer your retirement to a later date.
If you choose this option your pension will be calculated based on your pension at age 60 increased by 2/3rds of one per cent for each complete month (8 per cent a year) that your pension remains deferred.
In addition to the bonus mentioned above your accrued pension will be increased each April in line with the increase in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) over the 12 months ending the previous September.
If you do not take up the option to defer your pension, your pension will be payable from your Normal Retirement Age.
Further information can be found in our Guide to Deferring Retirement.
You need to have made your decision and returned your Decision Form to the Fund Office within 6 months of your 60th birthday (62nd birthday if you left before 17 May 1990).
Your accrued pension will be increased by 8 per cent for each year that it is deferred on top of the standard Fund increases that apply to your deferred pension, this means that your pension when it commences will be higher than it would have been had you elected to draw the pension from age 60, however you need to balance this with how long you expect to be receiving your pension as well as your financial needs. You may wish to seek independent financial advice to assist you in making your decision.
Once you have made your decision it cannot be reversed, so if you were to find yourself in the position of needing to claim your pension within 6 months of age 60 having chosen to defer payment, the 8 per cent a year uplift would not be payable and your pension would be payable from the date on which you claim it.
The option lapses and your pension will be payable from age 60 regardless of when you decide to claim your pension.
No, there is no option to draw the tax free cash sum and defer the residual pension.
The pension will be payable from the date you elect to claim it, however if you joined the Fund on or after 1 June 1989 your pension must be paid no later than your 75th birthday.
The variable pension option is only available when retirement is more than 6 months before you reach State Pension Age, once you are within 6 months of State Pension Age or if you have passed your State Pension Age, the variable pension option is no longer available.
The benefits payable would be based on your deferred pension with the late retirement uplift.
No, as the late retirement uplift is set out under the Fund Rules, the uplift along with the Fund pension increases does not count towards your pensions input.
Online quotations through our Pension Web Portal will only reflect the late retirement uplift once you have elected to defer payment of your deferred pension.
The Fund Rules specifically exclude members who have opted out of the Fund from electing to defer payment of their deferred pension if they are still in TfLs employment on reaching age 60.