pamela wrote:

On 20:14 12 Feb 2018, Roger Hayter wrote:

Andrew wrote:

On 11/02/2018 23:20, Max Demian wrote:
The pension terms (both contributions and benefits) have been
altered many times over the years,

Nope.

The NHS superannuation scheme has a 1/80th accrual rate and a
retirement age of 60 and a tax-free lump sum of 3x first years
pension. All this for a 6% employee contribution, and GPs,
despite being 'self-employed' are full members of this scheme.
Eat your heart out ARW if you have to make your own provision.

Had, you mean, not has. And you fail to mention the employer's
contribution which was quite large. And, interestingly, GPs have
to pay the employer's contribution out of their gross
remuneration, as self-employed. And even all that is subject to a
maximum pension pot of 1.2M which is equivalent to a relatively
moderate final salary.

It's hard for heart to feel sorry for GP's making pension
contributions when they were and may still be the best paid GPs in
the industrialised world. One received £700K last year. Union man
too, no doubt.

This was a payment for providing a service. He almost certainly had to
pay at least on and probably more than one other person to meet his
obligations. Or else finance another practice and receive reimbursement
as an entrepreneur rather than as a doctor. The remuneration of GP
practices is sufficiently complicated that unscrupulour journalists can
mislead to their heart's content by lying about it.




That was the case until 2011 when a new scheme took over with a
retirement age of 65, reduced, or no lump sum but a better
accrual rate.

There might have been changes to the civil service schemes but
some of them had a zero % employee contribution.


--

Roger Hayter