You may be able to transfer your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) rights to other pension arrangements.
Before transferring you may wish to seek independent financial advice in order to make sure it is in your best interests to do so. Find a list of Independent Financial Advisers on the Financial Conduct Authority website.
Your new pension fund may have time constraints regarding when you can transfer pension benefits into their fund. You should contact them to find out.
If you have less than 3 months membership in the scheme you cannot transfer out your benefits. You will receive a refund of your contributions. How a refund from the LGPS is calculated
We must use factors provided by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) for calculations. These factors can change from time to time.
Find out about transferring your pension rights to another pension arrangement
Find out about transferring your pension rights within the LGPS
Protect yourself against pension scams
Watch out for pension scams. They can be hard to spot. Once you have transferred your pension to a scam, it is too late. You could lose all your pension savings and face a tax bill. Protect your pension. Find out about pension scams prevention before you transfer
Freedom and Choice
The government directs that individuals have different options for taking their pension pot if:
- they are over age 55, and
- have savings in a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme, such as a personal pension.
If you have savings in a DC pension scheme or you are thinking about transferring to a DC pension scheme, find out about your options for using your DC pension pot on the government Money Helper website
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme. A DB pension scheme means that pension benefits are defined in legislation and based on the employee's earnings and membership. The government direction does not apply to DB pension schemes. However, if you have paid in-house Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs), the options may apply to your AVCs.