Just as 2020 presented its challenges and opportunities, so too will the year ahead – and 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of the Forces Pension Society as the champion of Armed Forces Pensions – a significant and important milestone in our story.
Looking forward, I want to share the Society’s priorities for 2021 – noting of course these things can change and we need to remain flexible and responsive.
Our top priority remains the provision of accurate, timely and credible technical pension advice and other services to our members; our Pension Advisory Team answer over a thousand enquiries every month helping you make the right pension choices and to maximise your pension potential.
Next, and uppermost in many serving and recently retired military people’s minds is the outcome of the so-called McCloud case – the litigation against the transitional arrangements applied to the 2015 Public Service Pension Schemes and the Government’s proposed remedy; we expect a Government announcement soon and we will be sure to explain what this means for you and the next steps you need to take.
Our next objective is to keep raising awareness of the benefits and complexities of the Armed Forces Pension to everyone in the Armed Forces Community through our Roadshows, webinars and other outreach activities.
I’m particularly keen to support those in resettlement and would encourage those of you approaching that phase of your career to attend a Financial Aspects of Resettlement briefing we conduct on behalf of the Career Transition Partnership – details for these can be found on our website.
And we will continue to support Veterans’ Gateway to help reunite entitled veterans and their families with any preserved pensions earned from previous service but remain unclaimed.
So plenty to be getting on with – and I’d encourage you to follow us on Social Media through what will be another important year for everyone involved in Armed Forces Pensions. It pays to understand your pension.
Neil Marshall
