Retirement

At retirement you’ll be offered a choice of benefits. You may exchange part of the pension available for a tax-free cash payment
The Fund's Normal Retirement Age is
1
With the consent of your employer you may retire before the normal retirement age of 60 providing you’re at least 55 years old.

Please note that some members in the CWSF 1986 and former TR sections will have a different normal retirement age. For more information on this, please refer to the deferred benefit statement that would have been sent to you when you left the Fund.

Early Retirement

If you take your pension before your normal retirement age, then your pension will be reduced by a certain amount for each year you take it early. This is to account for you drawing the pension over a longer period.

Cash payment

At retirement you may exchange part of your pension for a cash payment, which is currently paid out tax- free.

The amount available depends on the level of your pension, and may be restricted by any Guaranteed Minimum Pension entitlement, especially if you retire before your normal retirement date.

Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)

If you have paid AVCs while a member of the Fund then, in most cases, you can take up to a quarter for this pot as a tax-free cash lump sum. The remainder can then be used to purchase an additional pension from within the Fund. Alternatively, you can also use this pot to buy a pension product of your choosing on the open market.

You do not have to take your pension directly from the Fund
You have the right, up to one year before your normal retirement age, to transfer your pension to another pension arrangement. Other types of pension arrangement could offer you additional flexibilities not provided by the Cable & Wireless Superannuation Fund. See transferring-out for more information.