If you are thinking about taking the next step and looking into retirement, it is best to know what to expect and what key information we need to process your pension.
Find out which retirement applies to you
Planning
The first step you will need to take is to see what the value of your benefits are; this is to check you can meet the needs of your retirement. To do this you will need to sign on to My Pension Online, from there you can see the current value of your benefits and a forecast to your Normal Pension Age (NPA).
Reductions may apply if you are drawing your benefits before your NPA.
My Pension Online will only show benefits you have with the Cornwall Pension Fund, so you may want to contact any other pension providers you have to start the process of claiming your benefits with them.
Log on to My Pension OnlineSetting the date
Once you have considered your options and decided to retire, if you are an active member of the pension fund voluntarily resigning from your employment, you will need to hand in your notice to your Employer and contact the Pension Fund as soon as possible with your agreed leaving date. If you are a deferred member of the fund, you can inform us of your chosen retirement date via My Pension Online.
Once we receive your retirement date, we will write to you with a ‘provisional details’ letter, which is an estimated quote of your benefits. This letter will include claim forms for you to complete and return to advise how and where you wish to receive your benefits.
The quotes are calculated in retirement date order so there may be a wait for your quote dependent on your retirement date.
Confirmation
If you are an active member of the pension fund, when you leave employment we require your employer to provide your leaver information before we can pay your pension. The sooner this is provided to us, the sooner we can process your benefits.
Once we have all the requirements to proceed - Member forms, your ID, information from your employer, we can process your payment.
Pension Payments
We will set up your monthly pension to be paid in the next available payroll run. The first payment will include any arrears due.
Payroll has a cut-off date each month around the 10th of each month, any pension processed after the 10th will be entered into the following months payroll.
Your monthly payments are paid at the end of each month, your first payment will depend on if it was placed into payroll before the cut-off date (10th).
Lump Sum Payment
Once we can process your payment, your lump sum will be paid within 10-14 working days.
Have an Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC)?
An AVC will likely alter the payment timescales as we require the AVC fund to be paid first.
Things to consider
If you are taking flexible retirement, ill health retirement, redundancy or efficiency of service, you will need your employer’s consent to receive your pension. Your employer will need to inform the Cornwall Pension Fund that you are retiring before we can send you your pension figures and claim forms.
Once you are in receipt of your benefits more information can be found under the pensioner tab.Find out more about being a pensioner