In conjunction with Pensions Awareness Week, our Chief Executive explains our briefing programme aims to help educate the Armed Forces community on all pension matters and raise awareness on the complexities and benefits of their Armed Forces Pension.
At the Forces Pension Society, our vision is to be the trusted source for independent Armed Forces Pension guidance – we are a not for profit organisation and a pension watchdog on behalf of the entire Armed Forces Community.
And with membership numbers fast approaching 60,000 it is really encouraging to see that over two-thirds of our joiners this year are from the non-commissioned ranks or have a non-commissioned background. And I’m greatly encouraged to see that more and more serving military and their partners are taking real interest and real ownership of their Armed Forces Pension.
And we can help in this regard by taking our Roadshows to ships, air stations and garrisons to help raise awareness of the benefits and the complexities of the Armed Forces Pension – and you can find the details on how to book one of those on our website. And I would strongly encourage any of you who are leaving the AF over the next year or so to attend one the excellent FAR Briefings we conduct on behalf of the Career Transition Partnership.
Now this week is Pension Awareness week and our message is quite simply this: “it pays to understand your pension” – Armed Forces Pensions are complex and the decisions you take can make a real difference as to what you receive further down the line – and even if you have left the Armed Forces you may be entitled to a preserved pension based upon previous service.
So, follow us on social media, visit our website or join us as a member – and continue to take even greater ownership of your pension.
Neil’s Top Tip for Pensions Awareness Week 2020
“Attend a FAR Briefing (Financial Aspects of Resettlement)”
Every year some 15,000 people leave the Armed Forces yet just less than 2,000 attend one of the excellent and free FAR Briefings we deliver on behalf of the CTP.
The FAR is open to Service Personnel and their spouses/partners and are designed to help service people better understand the pension to which they are entitled. They are essential for anyone leaving the Armed Forces.
The FAR brief covers not only member benefits payable by the AFPS and RFPS but wider entitlements too. Topics covered are Pen Form 1; EDP; commutation and inverse commutation, death in service benefits – nomination and allocation; preserved/deferred pensions; payment of pensions; living abroad and more. All these matters are so important in family decision making.
We hope that this has given you a feel for the range of issues covered by the FAR briefing and why it might be a good idea for ‘the other half’ to attend – in our experience they ask some very good questions. To coin a phrase, two heads are better than one!
The FAR is now being conducted by Webinar too and to book just visit the CTP website and for more on FARs see here
