Page 19 - Group Insurance and Retirement Benefit IC 83 E- Book

Please note, however, that the rules of each scheme will specify the earliest date at

which retirement will be allowed under that scheme.

What happens if I retire late?
If your retirement is to be postponed beyond normal retirement age, this usually requires

the consent of your employer and/or the trustees of the scheme. What happens then
depends very much on the rules of the individual scheme. Revenue rules and the

provisions of most pension schemes give the option to take all of your benefits at normal

retirement age. Alternatively, you may have an option to take the cash element (see
―commutation‖ above) and defer receiving your pension until you actually do retire. The

third option is to defer your benefits altogether until you eventually retire. If that option is

taken, death in service cover may continue to be provided until you actually retire,
although it would be unusual for this provision to continue after age 70.

If you defer your benefits beyond normal retirement age, it is usual for these benefits to

increase, to reflect the fact that their value continues to be invested in the fund, and that
average life expectancy will be shorter from a later age, so fewer installments of pension

will be payable overall.

I have contributed for 40 years but I have not yet reached normal retirement age. Can I
stop my contributions, or even retire now on full benefits?

The answer to the first part of the question depends on the rules of your scheme. Some

schemes will permit members to stop contributing after 40 years of contributions but
most schemes require people to continue to contribute up to normal pension age, even if

this means that they would have contributed for longer than the maximum period of

service credited for pension purposes. If you want to take your benefits before the normal
retirement age specified in the scheme rules, this is a case of early retirement and your

benefits in those circumstances would be subject to whatever reduction the scheme would

usually require for benefits paid before normal retirement age.